Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Old News From Iraq

At National Review's The Corner, lead neo-con Cliff May quotes excitedly from a "Marine's Notes" -- supposedly an on-the-ground account of day to day battle tactics in Iraq, from the perspective of the troops. But from the first read, it all sounds suspicously canned, and only gets more so as the dodgy talking point-read material piles up:

Fact: Most of the ready made IED's are supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics ... Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld GPS units for navigation and "Googleearth" for overhead views of our positions ... Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi [sic -- he's dead] Al Qaeda group... The Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters (they have been fighting the Russians for years) ... When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeo's (Allah's Waiting Room). ... [US troops] are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted

There are enough distinctive phrases in there that the whole passage easily Googles to establish its source: this shite has been circulating for at least a year. Apparently the new phase of demanding good news from Iraq is to recycle the old good news.

UPDATE: Also caught by TPM Muckraker.

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