But, the Publicity He Gets in the Meantime...Priceless

He sells books. He collects campaign contributions.

I keep falling short of my goal to avoid posting about Ben Carson.

Ben Carson’s remarks on foreign policy have repeatedly raised questions about his grasp of the subject, but never more seriously than in the past week, when he wrongly asserted that China had intervened militarily in Syria and then failed, on national television.

[...]

In last week’s Republican debate, speaking of the turmoil in Syria, Mr. Carson said that “the Chinese are there.”

Both the White House and China denied that China had intervened militarily in Syria.

[...]

Faced with increasing scrutiny about whether Mr. Carson — who leads in some Republican presidential polls — was capable of leading American foreign policy, two of his top advisers said in interviews with The New York Times that he had struggled to master the intricacies of the Middle East and national security and that intense tutoring was having little effect.

“Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East,” Duane R. Clarridge, a top adviser to Mr. Carson on terrorism and national security, said in an interview. He also said Mr. Carson needed weekly conference calls briefing him on foreign policy so “we can make him smart.”

  NYT

I'm guessing Clarridge (himself guilty of lying to Congress in the Iran-Contra scandal) isn't interested in keeping his job.

On the other hand, W Bush proved that many Americans like a president that's as ignorant as they are.

Mr. Carson’s advisers said that his source for claiming Chinese involvement in Syria was a telephone conversation he had had with a freelance American intelligence operative in Iraq.

According to notes of the briefing kept by a Carson aide who was also on the line, the operative had said, “Multiple reports have surfaced that Chinese military advisers are on the ground in Syria, operating with Russian special operations personnel.”

[...]

The operative in Iraq had “overleaped” in suggesting Chinese troops are in Syria, Mr. Clarridge said, adding of the operative, “You know how it goes when people are desperate for some headline.”

Yes, we do.  A few weeks ago, Fox News and the Daily Beast were falsely reporting that the Cubans were there, too. Hey, they're all commies. So what's the diff?

By the way, Mr. Clarridge is helping Mr. Carson gratis. All the more reason he might not care if he gets fired.

Robert F. Dees, a retired Army general on the staff of Liberty University, the institution founded by Jerry Falwell [is acting as national security adviser for Carson].

[...]

Mr. Dees offered a different portrait of Mr. Carson than Mr. Clarridge. “Dr. Carson is an amazing intellect,” he said. “He has the right stuff to be commander in chief.”

Yes, Mr. Dees is getting paid for his position.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE: