Fox Fact Check Is Wrong On Palin Quote

Geez Fox, if you're going to run a Fact Check, it might help if you had your facts right, or at least didn't misinterpret a statement.

PALIN: "We cannot afford to lose against al-Qaida and the Shia extremists who are still there, still fighting us."

THE FACTS: She appeared to confuse the two main Muslim sects in Iraq. Al-Qaida is solely made up of Sunni Muslim militants. Through the course of the war, U.S. forces fought ferocious opposition from both the Sunnis and the country's dominant Shiite sects. Now, both groups are largely maintaining a cease-fire with the U.S. A much-diminished al-Qaida, mainly foreign fighters, remains the primary threat.

My impression isn't that she confused them at all but was simply drawing a distinction between the two.

Comments

[David Holliday]

Not only did she not confuse them her comment was spot on. Al-Qaida while much weakened and transferring its primary focus to Afghanistan and Pakistan is still fighting in Iraq. Muqtada al-Sadr, while hiding in Iran and has called for his brigades to stop fighting, has been reorganizing a much smaller "resistance" force and some of his previous followers have gone renegade continuing the fight. People are still dieing in Iraq. While the effectiveness of the attacks are reduced they still occur with distressing frequency.

Finally, I interpreted her comment as a shot at Iran. Iran is extremist Shia and is still supporting those that are seeking to disrupt the political process and destablize Iraq.

[LifeTrek]

The Shia militias (backed by Iran) are in Iraq -- I got it when she said it I don't know why Fox didn't.
David

[Lala]

Now this is fact-checking

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/totten/35261

Joe Biden’s Alternate Universe
Michael J. Totten - 10.03.2008 - 8:10 AM

In Thursday night’s vice presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin, Biden said the strangest and most ill-informed thing I have ever heard about Lebanon in my life. “When we kicked — along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, “Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don’t know — if you don’t, Hezbollah will control it.” Now what’s happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel.” [Emphasis added.]

What on Earth is he talking about? The United States and France may have kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon in an alternate universe, but nothing even remotely like that ever happened in this one.

Nobody – nobody – has ever kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon. Not the United States. Nor France. Not Israel. And not the Lebanese. Nobody.

Joe Biden has literally no idea what he’s talking about.

read more at above link.........

[seekeronos]

Kicking the Hezzies out of Lebanon would be like us deciding to outlaw the GOP and Democrats, and ordering them to disband and never run for political office again.