In a region of the world where dissembling is an artform, the Taliban are persistant, but not very skillful liars. In describing paid informants and spies, one Russian veteran noted “...they took our money and lied to us.”

The Taliban have no credibility whatsoever.

Sometimes I wonder about our own media too. Yesterday's online LA Times featured a still image from that nightscope video being aired today showing soldiers boarding an aircraft through its rear cargo ramp. The caption for the picture in the Times read " This video shot with an image intensifier shows U.S. Special Forces inside an Afghan building.
(AP/Defense Department)"

I'm hopeful that this was just a simple mix-up, and the wrong photo and/or caption was used. If this is an attempt at misinformation, it is a transparently clumsy one.

My hopes are somewhat diminished by the presence on the same page of another not-quite-accurate photo caption. The caption says that the pilot is awaiting instructions prior to take-off, when what is really shown is an FA-18 pilot displaying the "hands off" gesture indicating that he is ready to launch. Hornets execute carrier launches automatically and the pilots do not touch the controls during this phase of flight.

Probably these gaffes are simply and more innocently the result of weekend staffers just winging it with neither the background nor the research skills nor apparently the motivation to produce more accurate captions.

Not quite in the same league with the Taliban though. I'm having a hard time remembering anything they've said which has panned out.

sp