This from The Globe and Mail:

But just a week ago, Rummy was the dummy. Remember? He hadn't sent enough troops. His supply lines were way too long. Iraqi soldiers weren't deserting the way they were supposed to, and the locals, instead of cheering, were decidedly hostile. Baghdad was going to turn into Stalingrad or Mogadishu. The entire war plan was deeply flawed. Things were going so bad that the U.S. Army's senior commander in Iraq confessed, "The enemy we're fighting is different from the one we war-gamed against."

That quote, from Page 1 of The New York Times, was recycled by armchair experts and reporters around the world. "Stumbling Giant," pronounced The Times of London. "Hopes of a quick coalition victory disappearing," intoned a CBC reporter, who referred to the general's comment as a "verbal bombshell."

Except that's not exactly what he said. What he said, according to a New York Times correction, was: "The enemy we're fighting is a bit different from the one we war-gamed against."

The fog of experts