Fox News spreads new Obama myths

Fox News spreads new Obama myths

The network spreads false rumors about the president's national security policy

BY ALEX SEITZ-WALD

In an attempt to paint President Obama as weak or even “dangerous” on foreign policy, as Rep. Michele Bachmann said this morning at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, conservative pundits have seized on two myths about Obama’s handling of national security, which have spread like wildfire through the right-wing blogosphere and onto the airwaves at Fox News.

The first states that Obama, via his ambassador in Egypt, ordered Marine guards at the Cairo embassy to go without live ammunition. The meme started as a rumor on a Web forum for Marines, which was picked up by a defense blog and then the conservative Washington Free Beacon. From there it spread to dozens of other right-wing blogs before making it to Fox News last night.

The claim is not only false, but completely misunderstands the role of Marine guards at diplomatic posts. “The Marines on duty at Embassy Cairo had ammunition in their weapons, as they always do at all our Missions overseas when they are on duty,” a senior State Department official, speaking on background because they were not authorized to speak with the press, told Salon. Mother Jones’ Adam Weinstein also obtained a memo from the Marine Corps’ congressional liaison that said the same. Later, a Pentagon spokesperson told Fox News, “The ambassador and RSO (Regional Security Officer) have been completely and appropriately engaged with the security situation. No restrictions on weapons or weapons status have been imposed.”

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http://www.salon.com/2012/09/14/fox_news_spreads_new_obama_myths/