Another Faux Pas By The Co Chairman of the Hand Written Will

NYT reports another gem from the President of the Pakistani Chapter of FootInMouthis Foundation. This is from an interview he gave Faux News recently.

At this critical juncture in Pakistan's history, does the nation deserve a trainee President? Who can reign in this unguided missile?

The incarceration must have affected his sensibilities. Democracy or dictatorship, Pakistanis are distinctly an unlucky people. t

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The president of Pakistan apparently believes an Internet hoax alleging that Oliver L. North warned of the dangers posed by Osama bin Laden 20 years ago.

President Asif Ali Zardari, in an interview with the Fox News Channel that was televised on Tuesday, claimed that Mr. North installed a security system for his home in the late 1980s “because he was ‘scared of Osama bin Laden.’ ”

That rumor emerged on the Internet shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It has been thoroughly debunked by a number of reliable sources, including the United States Senate’s Web site and Mr. North himself.

Nonetheless, the hoax continues to be perpetuated through a widely e-mailed document that claims to be a transcript of Mr. North’s testimony during the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987.

In the forgery, Mr. North is quoted as saying that Mr. bin Laden is a grave threat to the United States. But in his actual testimony, Mr. North never mentioned Mr. bin Laden and referred only to the terrorist Abu Nidal. In November 2001, after receiving copies of the e-mail hoax, Mr. North wrote a response that said the claims were “simply inaccurate.”

“Though I would like to claim the gift of prophesy, I don’t have it,” he wrote.

Transcript of President Asif Ali Zardari's Interview With Fox News
Excerpt of Oliver North's Actual Testimony (pdf)