I know that Ed Morrissey and the Powerline Boys like her but Geez Louise this is loony:

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann claims to know of a plan, already worked out with a line drawn on the map, for the partition of Iraq in which Iran will control half of the country and set it up as a “a terrorist safe haven zone” and a staging area for attacks around the Middle East and on the United States.

She said this in a taped interview with St. Cloud Times reporter Lawrence Schumacher, which is available as a podcast…

Here’s the extended excerpt:

“Iran is the trouble maker, trying to tip over apple carts all over Baghdad right now because they want America to pull out. And do you know why? It’s because they’ve already decided that they’re going to partition Iraq.

And half of Iraq, the western, northern portion of Iraq, is going to be called…. the Iraq State of Islam, something like that. And I’m sorry, I don’t have the official name, but it’s meant to be the training ground for the terrorists. There’s already an agreement made.

They are going to get half of Iraq and that is going to be a terrorist safe haven zone where they can go ahead and bring about more terrorist attacks in the Middle East region and then to come against the United States because we are their avowed enemy.”

This is pure fantasy, of course. She doesn’t say where she heard it or, more importantly, who made the agreement. Is it the Iraqi government? The Bush Administration? The tooth fairy?

Congress Critters have a tendency to spout when you stick a mic in front of their face. They trust that whatever comes out of their mouths is earth shaking and profound. It rarely is, of course. In fact, more often it is puerile and stupid. But many Congressmen are so in love with the sound of their own voice that sometimes they figure they can say just about anything and no one will challenge them on it.

Is it possible that she was talking about a worst case scenario for Iraq and just forgot to mention that she was positing a hypothetical?

Sure hope so. If not, I would suggest a long vacation in a nice quiet room at a facility that offers a dose of reality therapy.

UPDATE: THE RETRACTION

Think Progress thought to call the Congresswoman’s office and get a clarifying statement.

What they got was even more mystifying:

ThinkProgress contacted Bachmann about her remarks, and received a statement from her office stating that coverage of her Iran statement was “misconstrued.” Bachmann claims she was actually talking about widely-discussed plans to partition Iraq among the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds, and her fear that Iran would overtake the Shiite region.

Bachmann is no stranger to conspiracy theories. She continues to insist that there is a link between the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Iraq, despite the 9/11 Commission’s conclusion that there was “no credible evidence” of any connection.

Here’s a link to the original podcast. You tell me if anyone can possibly construe what she says on tape as anything but what was quoted above. Besides, that “widely discussed plan” to partition Iraq has the Shia state in the south, not the “western and northern” portions as she claims in her original statement.

I wonder if she got a briefing of some kind from the Pentagon and is just all bollixed up about what she heard and what was being speculated on. One thing for sure, her “clarifying statement” did nothing but muddy the waters even more.