AP Writers Can't Get Their Stories Straight

The Associated Press has made two major blunders when writing about the London terror attacks.

First, AP wrongly reported that Scotland Yard had warned the Israeli Embassy in London of the possibility of terrorism just minutes BEFORE the attacks occurred.

Oops! Nevermind.

Now, for the second time in less than a week, AP is forced to retract another story that involves Israel and the London attacks. Once again, they blew it.

(IsraelNN.com) -- The Associated Press has published a retraction of a major story covering British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s comments to the BBC regarding the London terror bombings.

The AP erroneously reported that Blair mentioned easing the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as a means of preventing future terror attacks.

The news organization now reports that Blair said no such thing. The AP also directly quoted Blair as mentioning “the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.” Recordings of Blair’s interview do not have the prime minister saying those words.

The entire AP retraction reads as follows:

"In a July 9 story about Prime Minister Tony Blair's comments on overcoming global terrorism, The Associated Press erroneously reported that he spoke of easing the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Blair did not specifically mention the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his interview with the British Broadcasting Corp."

AP’s erroneous reporting was taken seriously by Israeli officials who formally rejected any linkage between global terrorism and the Arab-Israeli dispute.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) contends that the AP’s misreporting is a symptom of the media’s tendency to blame Israel for the world’s ills.

In short, the Associated Press has exhibited a disturbing bias.

In this case, the reporter completely fabricated words spoken by Tony Blair. A direct quote was made up.

Simply put, their reporting sucks.

Just as CBS won a peabody for its Abu Ghraib reporting after the shame of the phony National Guard documents story, expect accolades in the near future for the AP.