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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Fact-checking the final presidential debate | Fact-checking the final presidential debate |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| Claim: Barack Obama, seeking to deride Mitt Romney, said that just as the navy needed fewer but larger ships, America's armed forces "also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military has changed". | Claim: Barack Obama, seeking to deride Mitt Romney, said that just as the navy needed fewer but larger ships, America's armed forces "also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military has changed". |
| Fact: the US certainly use many fewer horses. The bayonet issue has been disputed, however, with many soldiers posting pictures of their bayonets online. In fact, old-fashioned bayonet charges are no longer part of US army basic training. The last time one was carried out in combat was in Korea in 1951. American soldiers were not issued bayonets for deployments to Iraq or Afghanistan, although knife combat is now taught to new recruits. | Fact: the US certainly use many fewer horses. The bayonet issue has been disputed, however, with many soldiers posting pictures of their bayonets online. In fact, old-fashioned bayonet charges are no longer part of US army basic training. The last time one was carried out in combat was in Korea in 1951. American soldiers were not issued bayonets for deployments to Iraq or Afghanistan, although knife combat is now taught to new recruits. |
| Claim: Obama said Romney had described Russia, not al-Qaida, as America's 'biggest geopolitical threat'. | Claim: Obama said Romney had described Russia, not al-Qaida, as America's 'biggest geopolitical threat'. |
| Fact: in a March interview this year, Romney told CNN that Russia was "without question our number one geopolitical foe". In Monday's debate, Romney claimed that "in the same paragraph" he had said Iran was the greatest national security threat. But Romney only mentioned Iran in March after being prompted by a surprised interviewer, and described Russia as the major power behind the world's "terrible actors". | Fact: in a March interview this year, Romney told CNN that Russia was "without question our number one geopolitical foe". In Monday's debate, Romney claimed that "in the same paragraph" he had said Iran was the greatest national security threat. But Romney only mentioned Iran in March after being prompted by a surprised interviewer, and described Russia as the major power behind the world's "terrible actors". |
| Claim: according to Obama, Romney had said the US 'should have more troops in Iraq right now'. | Claim: according to Obama, Romney had said the US 'should have more troops in Iraq right now'. |
| Fact: Romney had faulted Obama for the abrupt manner of the pullout from Iraq after Washington and Baghdad failed to negotiate a status of forces agreement giving US troops immunity from Iraqi prosecution, but did not directly argue for more troops. | Fact: Romney had faulted Obama for the abrupt manner of the pullout from Iraq after Washington and Baghdad failed to negotiate a status of forces agreement giving US troops immunity from Iraqi prosecution, but did not directly argue for more troops. |
| Claim: Romney said Obama had been 'silent' over Iran's Green revolution in 2009 rather than speaking out in support of the protesters. | Claim: Romney said Obama had been 'silent' over Iran's Green revolution in 2009 rather than speaking out in support of the protesters. |
| Fact: Obama was initially reticent in part because his advisers feared that overt US support for the opposition during the 2009 election campaign would simply add weight to the depiction of them as western stooges by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The White House also judged nuclear negotiations with Iran, then at a hopeful juncture, were its foreign policy priority. It was 10 days after the election, widely believed to have been rigged, before Obama condemned the violent suppression of demonstrators. | Fact: Obama was initially reticent in part because his advisers feared that overt US support for the opposition during the 2009 election campaign would simply add weight to the depiction of them as western stooges by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The White House also judged nuclear negotiations with Iran, then at a hopeful juncture, were its foreign policy priority. It was 10 days after the election, widely believed to have been rigged, before Obama condemned the violent suppression of demonstrators. |
| Claim: Romney said Syria was Iran's 'only ally in the Arab world' and Iran's 'route to the sea'. | Claim: Romney said Syria was Iran's 'only ally in the Arab world' and Iran's 'route to the sea'. |
| Fact: this seems to ignore Iran's 1,500-mile (2,400km) Gulf coastline, and the fact that Iran has no border with Syria. | Fact: this seems to ignore Iran's 1,500-mile (2,400km) Gulf coastline, and the fact that Iran has no border with Syria. |
| • This article was amended on 26 October 2012 to remove a section about Romney's claim that he would indict the Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, under the genocide convention, claiming he had incited genocide against Israel. The article said the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide does not list incitement as an indictable offence. In fact it does. | • This article was amended on 26 October 2012 to remove a section about Romney's claim that he would indict the Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, under the genocide convention, claiming he had incited genocide against Israel. The article said the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide does not list incitement as an indictable offence. In fact it does. |
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