Caught in a Lie

A Republican running for Congress claimed to have visited Baghdad, and as proof of how peaceful it was he posted a picture on his website that he claimed was taken in Baghdad. Immediately, though, people were suspicious. There was no Arabic lettering on the signs, and a woman in the photo was wearing clothing that seemed remarkably provocative for Iraq.

Well, a blogger on Daily Kos learned where the picture was actually taken, then found another photo from the same street as proof. The peaceful street scene wasn't from Baghdad, it was from Turkey, taken in the Istanbul suburb of Bakirkoy.

As another blogger on Kos points out: This is extremely important because Kaloogian is claiming that Iraq is much more calm and stable than most Americans believe. His direct quote: "We took this photo of dowtown Baghdad while we were in Iraq. Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it - in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism." He's made the claim that Baghdad is peaceful, then posted a fake photograph in an effort to prove his lie. That the current Republican party for you.

True conservatives, are you ever going to take your party back from these lying scum?

Update: Kaloogian, after claiming repeatedly yesterday that he stood by the photo and his description of it, flip-flopped today and claimed it was the fault of the webmaster. He replaced the peaceful street scene with a long shot of the Green Zone taken from a hotel balcony, but claims it still proves the city is peaceful.

Update: Talking Points Memo sums it up.