An Anti-War Activist Lied, Because No One Died

When you need to slam the War in Iraq, nothing satisfies better than a lurid fiction:

When Army Sergeant Dennis Edwards spoke at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School last month, 100 students listened in rapt silence as he told chilling tales of battlefield horror in Iraq and criticized President Bush's motives for going to war.

Edwards, 23, a Barnstable High School graduate, said he and two other soldiers shot and killed a 10-year-old boy in Iraq who pretended to be wounded and suddenly fired an AK-47 rifle. The boy was found to have explosives attached to his body, Edwards told the stunned audience.

Now, Edwards has admitted to his superiors in the elite 82d Airborne Division that the story about the shooting was a lie, Army officials yesterday. As a result, the veteran of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could be charged with making false statements, face a court-martial, and be stripped of his rank.

His confession has also saddened Dennis-Yarmouth teachers and students, who said they felt honored and captivated by his appearance.

''We need to use this as a teachable moment," Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi said yesterday. ''We need to make sure our students . . . clearly understand that sometimes individuals might elaborate stories or examples for their own benefit."

I'm glad the superindendent wants to make sure his students understand that sometimes political activists lie. That lesson doesn't seem to be taught much as regards the left, whose true believers are pretty much allowed to invent any ridiculous "fact" they like in support of their arguments without challenge. (As Son of Nixon used to be fond of claiming (ironically, for any editors at Newsmas): "Did you know by the year 2008 the entire state of California will be homeless?"

I witnessed him drop that ridiculous claim on several liberals and not once did one of them give him a funny look and say, "I think your numbers might be a little off." Nope-- they just said, "I know!"

But I have to say I'm getting a little sick of this term "teachable moment" that's all the vogue on the left. It seems to be a liberal version of "proactive" or "incentivize."

Or "Don't go there," actually. It's already at that level of annoyance.