this is too funny.
this is even funnier
i never would have imagined that a guy with an armenian name couldn't tell the difference between iraq and turkey.
UPDATE: through the magic of the internet, kaloogian's "downtown baghdad" intersection has been identified. the picture is from bakirkoy, a suburb of istanbul. (via atrios)
UPDATE2 (3/30/06): josh marshall gives a wrap up. check out the hilarious picture kaloogian put up to replace the istanbul picture. apparently that's the best he can do.
UPDATE3 (3/30/06): kaloogian's new picture was taken from the high rise al rashid hotel. and, it turns out kaloogian may not have taken the picture on his recent "truth visit" to iraq because one of the buildings in the photo was bombed last year.
i can't tell whether the building still exists there. i guess it is possible that kaloogian might have caught the bombed out shell on his camera--it's from such a distance you really can't tell where it's just a facade or not. but either way, using the photo that includes a building that was recently bombed as evidence for the peacefulness of baghdad is simply absurd.
to be honest i thought this one had run its course, but apparently the fun never stops. as of this writing the kaloogian's web site isn't working. maybe kaloogian is coming up with yet another photo. i really can't wait.
UPDATE4 (3/30/06): so it turns out that kaloogian's truth visit wasn't all that recent after all. silly me, i somehow interpreted the words "I just returned from a 10-day trip to Iraq" to mean something that happened recently. kaloogian explains that he "just returned" from the trip in june 2005. which explains why that building that blew up last december is visible in his travel photo.
but the fact remains that the building was bombed. so i still declare it to be officially ironic that kaloogian is using a photo of a since destroyed building as evidence of how peaceful baghdad is.
UPDATE5 (3/30/06): kaloogian's response to the controversy is pretty entertaining (i like how he goes from "I accept full responsibility for it" to ranting about anti-war types).
meanwhile, via atrios, it looks like kaloogian is about to get ass kicked; and those poll numbers came out before this whole baghdad photo kerfuffle. part of me is actually hoping that kaloogian somehow manages to stay in second place and that busby doesn't quite get 50% of the vote. that way, kaloogian will make it to the runoff and be around for a little more wacky hijinx
why am i so entertained by this guy? i haven't the slightest.
UPDATE6 (3/30/06): a new word is born. (via TPM)
