I'm far less charitable. My gut feeling leans toward him being
dishonest and arrogant. I personally don't believe he ever got down
into to the "quiet" streets of Baghdad, much less took a picture
there. Whether or not the photo was an honest mistake, his portrayal
of his experience there was likely a lie. Once his Turkish street
photo was exposed as a lie, he posted another of Baghdad, but this time
from high on a hotel balcony. If that's as close as he got, that
strongly suggests the streets of Baghdad are indeed as dangerous as
reported by others, and reporters and visiting politicians are not safe
outside their hotels. And two, he's a lying ******* to say otherwise
and probably thought he'd get away with it.

That said, I'm just as sure that some semblance of normal life does
exist for these unfortunate people; but it shouldn't be newsworthy
that an average citizen can safely walk down his street to buy
vegetables. I'm sick of right-wing toadies trying to put a positive
spin on this debacle. Were it not for this latest incident fitting
neatly into that pattern of disinformation, I could dismiss it easily
enough; but I'm sick of the lies, even small ones.

Joe F.