Left I on the News

There are so many "big lies" we've heard in recent years - Iraq kicked out the arms inspectors, we "know" Iraq has WMD, Iran is building nuclear weapons, on and on. Today's White House press briefing saw yet another one of them rear its head:

MS. PERINO: What I can tell is that these matters are very complex on how you get individuals who are picked up on the battlefield to be taken back by their home countries.

If we know anything about the people in Guantanamo, we know that the vast majority of them were not "picked up on the battlefield," unless you define the "battlefield" as "the planet Earth."

The press corps didn't pick up on this specifically, but for once the reporter (unidentified, but from the feistiness, it could well have been Helen Thomas) did react:

Q What are they charged with? What are they -- what did they do?

MS. PERINO: These are unlawful enemy combatants that intended to harm the United States or other Western civilization --

Q That we have designated -- were they defending their own country?

MS. PERINO: No, I don't think they were. They were intending to hurt innocent people.

Q This isn't a matter of thinking. Do you know?