Friday on Fox News Channel’s “Shepard Smith Reporting,” Smith said, “Somebody is a Baghdad Bob” in discussing the contradictory statements from White House press secretary Josh Earnest that the United States told Iran to pull out of Iraq and an intelligence official telling Fox News  that it was Iran’s anger over the U.S. airstrikes in Tikrit which caused the Iran-backed Shiite militias to leave the fight.

In invoking “Baghdad Bob,” Smith was referencing the Iraqi Information Minister,  Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who held infamously unrealistic daily press briefings during the early days of the 2003 Iraqi war, grossly misrepresenting the situation on the ground in favor of the Saddam Hussein regime, earning him the nickname “Baghdad Bob” in many satirical critiques and comedy routines at the time.

Smith said, “The Middle East is about as screwy as anybody can remember,” explaining “In Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran are at war, a proxy war with the United States supporting the Saudi-led coalition. According to Egyptian officials, Saudi Arabia and Egyptian warships are heading to a key strait over the coast of Yemen. Analysts say that could lead to the worst war between Arab countries in decades, because Iran is backing the rebels, who overthrew the government and forced the president out. The White House is still claiming that Yemen is a model for counter-terrorism. Remember, Yemen’s government has collapsed, its president has left the country, and three groups of rebels are fighting for control and yet [according to the White House] we have plenty of resources there and everything is fine.”

He continued, “Meantime, Iraqi forces are trying to drive out the Islamic State from Tikrit, with the help of U.S. Airstrikes. Here’s the fun part. The Iraqis are fighting mostly without the Iran backed Shiite militia, which pulled out in protest over U.S. airstrikes—or that’s what they say. One intelligence official says Iran is, ‘really pissed,’  that Iraq chose to partner with the United States. President Obama’s  former U.S. ambassador to Iraq tells Politico the situation is in a free-fall, but the United States says, no. True, not true. We told them they couldn’t be there if we’re going to be there. Somebody is a Baghdad Bob.”

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