The AP Strikes Again

Power Line critiques an AP story that, if not mendacious this round, demonstrates anew the wire service's anti-Bush bias.

Regarding Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's speech to a joint session of Congress, the AP wrote:

"In an appearance that President Bush's advisers hoped would ease American voters' doubts about the troubled campaign in Iraq, Allawi told a joint meeting of Congress... "

And: "Allawi sought to tie the struggle in Iraq to the larger fight against global terrorism, echoing one of Bush's campaign themes.

After his address, Allawi was heading to the White House for a meeting with President Bush, where the two leaders were to assert from the White House Rose Garden that progress is being made and the future is bright in Iraq."

And concluded: "An assessment of Iraq's future put together recently by U.S. intelligence officials spoke of possibilities ranging from tenuous stability to civil war, and even some senators in Bush's Republican Party have said there is a need for more candid talk from the White House."

As Hindrocket notes, this implies collusion with the Bush campaign and makes Allawi's appearance appear to be little more than a campaign stop by the administration. But of course, we've already learned that, for many modern liberals, Iraqi lives are expendible.