White House Accuses Abbas Of Lying

Today the front front pages of the British press are dominated by the story I reported yesterday:

Abbas Claims Bush Told Him: "God Told Me to Strike at al Qaida and I Struck Them, and Then he Instructed Me to Strike at Saddam, which I Did"

The BBC version of the story reports similar details in the name of PA ministers. White House spokesman Scott McClellan yesterday dismissed the allegations as "absurd." "He's never made such comments," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said angrily.

The British news media is running with this story because it seems to confirm their conception of Bush as a religious fanatic. They do not point out that the PA routinely lies. For a humorous example, see this post of mine on the many conflicting explanations of the Gaza synagogue desecrations.