WTF?

Rep. Kucinich’s Syria visit raises eyebrows

Rep. Dennis Kucinich showed up in Syria this week and held a press conference in which he appeared to praise embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — who is ruthlessly crushing opposition to his government — as “highly loved and appreciated by the Syrians.”

But the Ohio Democrat released a statement Tuesday saying he was misquoted by Syrian media.

…Syrian state media quoted Kucinich as saying during the press conference, “President Bashar al-Assad cares so much about what is taking place in Syria, which is evident in his effort towards a new Syria and everybody who meets him can be certain of this.”

…“A story written about my remarks by the Syrian Arab News Agency unfortunately mistranslated several of my statements and did not reflect my direct quotes. Arab-speaking friends accompanying me have explained that the problem may have come from a mistranslation as well as the degree of appreciation and affection their state-sponsored media has for President Assad,” Kucinich said in the statement.

However, the Ohio Congressman did not rush to blame Syrian state-run media, saying in the same statement that the mistranslations were “unfortunate [but] … not a willful intent to mischaracterize my statements or my efforts in the region.”