TPM:
Just how far can one erroneous terrorism story travel?
By our very partial count, a since-corrected ABC report on the supposed role of ex-Gitmo detainees in planning the Detroit Christmas Day attack was picked up by at least 12 media outlets, and was cited by two members of Congress and legion right-wing bloggers.
Here's how the Dec. 28 story, which we've saved in its original form here, began:
Two al Qaeda Leaders Behind Northwest Flight 253 Terror Plot Were Released by U.S.
Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Detroit were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November, 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents.
American officials agreed to send the two terrorists to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.
The only problem? As documented by Gawker, one of those two leaders -- IDed in the story as
"Guantanamo prisoner #333, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi" -- had reportedly surrendered himself in February and ended up in the hands of Saudi authorities. This fact -- reported at the time by the AP -- means that, as ABC's correction noted last night, he "therefore could not have played a direct role in organizing the attempt to bring down Northwest flight 253."
Read on.
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