by Stephen of the Thinkery

One of Josh Marshall’s astute readers made an interesting point recently, namely that US officials have started using the term “al Qaeda” to refer to people and groups that have been heretofore considered “insurgents” or “Sunni/Shia” groups involved in Iraq’s civil war.

Iraq and al Qaeda, the lie that just won’t die. Now that the drums of war are sounding ever louder for Iran, Bush administration officials are pushing the ludicrous idea that Iranian Shiites are supporting and arming al Qaeda Sunnis. Marshall points us to some remarks from Gen. Petraeus via Andy Sullivan:

Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.