If he's a master of exaggeration, why did he retract the statement, then? It's not like the retraction was made under pressure. It sounds like he's trying to get his statements closer to the truth.

I would also like to see the full transcript of Wolfowitz' statements, including the interviewer's questions. It would not be the first time that journalists have deliberately misquoted Wolfowitz in the press. This is the only part of the retraction quoted:

"Zarqawi is actually the guy I was referring to -- should have been more precise," Wolfowitz said Friday. "It's not a great many -- it's one of bin Laden's key associates -- probably better referred to that way than a key lieutenant."

That is a rectraction. But it's not much of one.

It looks to me that the only retraction here is "key associates" instead of "key lieutenants." This sentence doesn't retract the claim that there are hundreds of al Qaeda fighters in Iraq.

Al Qaeda is an organization made up of organizations. Wolfowitz changed the word to indicate that Zarqawi, a leading figure in an al Qaeda associate organization, is in Iraq, but not someone like Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is in Osama bin Laden's inner circle.

And yet several news organizations make it sound as if Wolfowitz is retracting his entire statement: Wolfowitz's original claim suggested a dangerous new development for the U.S.-led forces trying to stabilize the country. The distinction Wolfowitz makes is narrow, but the news organizations report it as broad.

You'd almost think someone is deliberately trying to twist his words or something.