Right Voices

(~4:30) You’ll be there in service to the same cause of freedom from tyranny and from violence. You’ll be there to defend the innocent from the enemies who planned, carried out, and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.

That is what she said.  (Thank you Ed for the video)  Having video proof did not deter Anne Kornblut from trying to say that Palin linked 9/11 to Saddam Hussein in telling troops departing to Iraq that they would be fighting the same people who attacked America:

Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would “defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.”

The idea that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself. But it is widely agreed that militants allied with al-Qaeda have taken root in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.

“America can never go back to that false sense of security that came before September 11, 2001,” she said at the deployment ceremony, which drew hundreds of military families who walked from their homes on the sprawling post to the airstrip where the service was held.

Bill Kristol shares his thoughts:

Kornblut’s interpretation of what Palin said is either stupid or malicious. Palin is evidently saying that American soldiers are going to Iraq to defend innocent Iraqis from al Qaeda in Iraq, a group that is related to al Qaeda, which did plan and carry out the Sept. 11 attacks. It makes no sense for Kornblut to claim that Palin is arguing here that Saddam Hussein’s regime carried out 9/11–obviously Palin isn’t saying that our soldiers are now going over to Iraq to fight Saddam’s regime. Palin isn’t linking Saddam to 9/11. She’s linking al Qaeda in Iraq to al Qaeda.

People can debate how intimate that connection is, and how much of the fight in Iraq is now against al Qaeda in Iraq–but it’s simply the case that Palin is not saying what Kornblut says she is, and that the Washington Post is, right now, leading its paper with a clear distortion of what Palin said.

Bill has updated his article with a edit from the WaPo page:

Update [Ed. Note by John McCormack]: It appears the Washington Post has tried to (partially) walk back Kornblut’s distortion that Palin tied responsibility for 9/11 to Saddam Hussein’s regime. The second paragraph of this story, as noted above, originally read:

The idea that Iraq shared responsibility with al-Qaeda for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself. On any other day, Palin’s statement would almost certainly have drawn a sharp rebuke from Democrats, but both parties had declared a halt to partisan activities to mark Thursday’s anniversary.”

It now reads:

The idea that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself. But it is widely agreed that militants allied with al-Qaeda have taken root in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.

The Post still ascribes an idea to Palin that she evidently wasn’t promoting. It’s nice that the Post threw in the sentence: “But it is widely agreed that militants allied with al-Qaeda have taken root in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.”

Okay, now this point by Ed has put a perma grin on my face:

What happened to the layers of fact-checkers and editors? Surely one of them must have recalled Saddam’s fall and death. At the very least, they could have Googled it to discover that we’re not fighting the government of Iraq any longer, and haven’t been for years, in order to understand that reference.

It’s probably the same people who haven’t noticed that their RSS feeds on politics and national news haven’t updated in five days.

Michelle has many links to check out, but overall she said the WaPo blew it

Michael Goldfarb notes,

“It seems we are to assume that this group [al Qaeda in Iraq], despite sharing a name and leadership with the group responsible for the 9/11 attacks, has nothing at all to do with those who ‘planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.’”

Others blogging:

• More lies about Palin | The TIW Blog
• Gov. Palin Washington Post blows it « POLITISITE: Politics from the RIGHT Side of the WEB
• THE DRIVE BYS’ ASSAULT CONTINUES « Texas Hold ‘Em Blogger
• The Saloon dot net
• WaPo takes a little creative license with the truth. « Republican Party of Jefferson County, TN
• Health Care BS – DEAR MEDIATARDS, THANK YOU
• An Unprecedented Problem « Popgun’s World
• Liars! « Popgun’s World
• Washington Post blows it « Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian
• Washington Post Smears Palin Again, Gets Facts Wrong Again, Doesn’t Check CNN or Youtube – Even Better, Idiots at Huffington Post Don’t Fact Check Either and Run With It « The IUSB Vision Weblog
• Blatant Anti-Palin Bias in the Liberal Media: A Collection « BUUUUURRRRNING HOT
• Washington Post Smears Palin Again, Gets Facts Wrong Again, Doesn’t Check CNN or Youtube – Even Better, Idiots at Huffington Post Don’t Fact Check Either and Run With It « The IUSB Vision Weblog
• This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here » Blog Archive » Media vs Palin
• Swamp Hermit’s *QUICK* Bits « The Swamp Hermit’s Report