Instant Urban Legend

Mudville Gazette is calling for corrections:

THE PRESIDENT: How many Iraqi citizens have died in this war? I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis. We’ve lost about 2,140 of our own troops in Iraq.

Today’s headlines? “Bush says 30,000 Iraqi civilians dead in war.”

Emphasis mine. Also, I wonder if the president misspoke. Is he including all the foreign fighters in that count? If so, they’re not even Iraqi citizens, let alone civilians.

This is how urban legends get started, and you can be sure that it will now become part of every lefty playbook. And don’t expect a correction.