Bush Lied

Ken AshfordBush & Co., IraqLeave a Comment

I’m talking now about the speech he gave yesterday.  Bush said:

The progress of the Iraqi forces is especially clear when the recent anti-terrorist operations in Tal Afar are compared with last year’s assault in Fallujah. In Fallujah, the assault was led by nine coalition battalions made up primarily of United States Marines and Army — with six Iraqi battalions supporting them…This year in Tal Afar, it was a very different story. The assault was primarily led by Iraqi security forces — 11 Iraqi battalions, backed by five coalition battalions providing support.

No, Mr. President.  The Tel Afar operation wasn’t led at all by Iraqi security forces, according to Times reporter Michael Ware, who was embedded with the troops during the actual assault:

I was in that battle from the very beginning to the very end. I was with Iraqi units right there on the front line as they were battling with al Qaeda. They were not leading. They were being led by the U.S. green beret special forces with them.

Think Progress has the details and video.