ONCE UPON A TIME THEY USED TO CHECK THEIR FACTS FIRST

But when it comes to spin, facts would seem to be irrelevant to the AP.

A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad told E&P Online Tuesday afternoon that he blames the Associated Press for spreading a sensational, and now disputed, story this week about two U.S. soldiers having their throats slashed and bodies mutilated by an angry mob in Iraq.

The AP story on the incident -- along with similar accounts from other outlets -- drew wide play in newspapers across the country on Monday, before the military jumped in to challenge it later that day.

"Personally, I would fault the AP as a member of the coalition and really as an American citizen," Coalition Spokesperson Sgt. Danny Martin said. "The AP is an American-based media outlet. They have the right to freedom of speech, freedom of press. They pretty much print what they like. I do find it somewhat irresponsible in their journalism that instead of perhaps showing some patience and waiting for the initial military report, that they just went from eyewitness accounts that have proven in just about every instance here to be exaggerated, embellished, or just false."