Tell the truth, Amy

If a wingnut is trying to sell a favored point of view, facts are the first thing to get thrown in the dustbin. I present Amy Proctor as today’s textbook example.

In her post The Last Battleground In Iraq, Amy tries to sell the talking point that religion is essential to ending the internecine warfare in Iraq. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Amy quotes at length from a piece in the LA Times — and since it doesn’t make the point forcefully enough for Amy, she happily twists it until it does.

First, an excerpt from Amy’s post:

An influential cleric and lawmaker in Iraq had this to say:  ”There will be disorder. After this unrest, there will be permanent stability.”

Now Shiite clerics are opposing Moqtada al-Sadr and his decision to wage an all out war on U.S. and Iraqi troops if they don’t stop operations against his fighters.  According to the Los Angeles Times:

...snip…

An influential cleric who is knowledgeable about talks between the Sadr movement and the grand ayatollahs described the situation in bleak terms: The government is weak, and Sadr aides now acknowledge privately that they have lost control of members who are receiving support from Iran.

“There are groups in the Mahdi Army who are kidnapping, killing and stealing. They don’t listen to Muqtada. They are openly operating with Iranian interests,” he said.

The cleric asked that his name not be used because he feared assassination. Everywhere, he saw Iran’s influence. “In the beginning, it was Arab countries playing a negative role. Now after Qaeda has fallen, it is Iran. Iran wants to control Iraq, and change the hawza from Najaf to Qom.”

The 6-foot-tall lawmaker also has to worry about Mahdi Army fighters co-opted by Tehran. “Iran interferes in everything,” he said. “It was able to control a handful of fighters to use them to serve their interests.”

“The quiet will not continue. There will be disorder,” he said confidentially between visits from customers who flipped through his books, with their pictures of the dour-faced clerics. He was sure the turbulence would pass: “After this unrest, there will be permanent stability.”

Compare the quote from the LA Times in Amy’s post to the final paragraphs of the actual story:

The 6-foot-tall lawmaker also has to worry about Mahdi Army fighters co-opted by Tehran. “Iran interferes in everything,” he said. “It was able to control a handful of fighters to use them to serve their interests.”

In the meantime, life goes on in Najaf’s ancient bazaar. Merchants cut black and brown fabric for clerics’ robes. Families buy deep red pomegranate juice and ice cream for daughters in party dresses. But bazaar owners believe the calm might be fleeting. A bookseller, whose merchandise includes writings by Sistani and Sadr’s father, frowned.

“The quiet will not continue. There will be disorder,” he said confidentially between visits from customers who flipped through his books, with their pictures of the dour-faced clerics. He was sure the turbulence would pass: “After this unrest, there will be permanent stability.”

(emphasis mine)

If the person saying that Iraq will find “permanent stability” isn’t impressive enough (a mere bookseller, after all), Amy feels justified in rewriting the story so those words are attributed to “an influential cleric and lawmaker”.

Try telling the truth next time, Amy. It does far less damage to your credibility.