[tictoc]

Thank you for your reply, Stultis. Although I hate to defend the Guardian, the Tagesspiegel article does support that lead (lede?).

Tagesspiegel wrote:

Unterdessen erweiterte Vize-Verteidigungsminister Paul Wolfowitz sein Eingeständnis, dass Massenvernichtungswaffen nicht der eigentliche Kriegsgrund waren.

My translation:

In the meantime, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz expanded on his admission that weapons of mass destruction were not the actual reason for the war (my underline).

Tagesspiegel continues:

Auf die Frage, warum man Nordkorea anders behandle als den Irak, sagte er in Singapur laut "Welt":

My translation:

Asked in Singapore why North Korea was being treated differently than Iraq, he said, according to Die Welt:

(And now follows what the Guardian accurately translated from German, but what was in fact a gross misquote of Wolfowitz.)

[firebrand]

Maybe they can run the quote through a few more languages and see what they get.

[Stultis]

They still need the cattle-prod treatment from the English speakers. Heading home now, and will be composing a nice warm email to the ombudsman as a drive.

Maybe just, "thanks for playing 'misquote the jew'," and a link to the thread.

[tictoc]

My preliminary conclusion is that dpa is probably innocent of any inaccuracy or malice. The first, and principal, culprit is Sophie Mühlmann writing for Die Welt. Second comes Tagesspiegel, which added its own spin ("...not the actual reason for the war"). And finally, the Guardian added its blaring headline, based on the two German newspapers.

While it is true that both Tagesspiegel and Die Welt are supposed to be moderately right of center newspapers, their staff are products of journalism schools, and you can do only so much with the graduates after their indoctrination by their professors. Nevertheless, each of the two German newspapers should take action, especially in the case of Mühlmann. At the very least, a warning with an entry in the personnel file.

Alternatively, Mühlmann's English may not be up to the task of being a reporter, in which case she cannot remain a foreign correspondent.