Responding to a report that two U.S. service members who had recently returned from Iraq were badly beaten in Seattle, nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh baselessly blamed the violent incident on the “anti-war left.” In fact, there is no evidence that the attack was politically motivated.

As Seattle TV station KOMO reported on August 25, police noted that the attack, which was caught on videotape, occurred after the three suspects allegedly “groped” the women who were accompanying the soldiers, and one of the women responded by “thr[owing] a hot dog at the suspects.” From KOMO's report:

Two soldiers who just returned from a year in Iraq were badly beaten in an attack outside Pioneer Square. But believe it or not, someone caught the beating on videotape. Now, police are asking for your help identifying the suspects.

The brutality of it all was captured on tape outside of Larry's Nightclub on First and Yesler on July 31.

Police say the victims were with two women who'd been groped by the suspects. One of the women threw a hot dog at the suspects and walked away.

They didn't get very far. The three suspects ran after them and began attacking the two men -- two soldiers who'd come home from the war.

As the videotape indicates, the service members were dressed in civilian attire.

Other conservatives have highlighted the Seattle incident without suggesting that the suspects were motivated by opposition to the Iraq war. For example, conservative pundit Michelle Malkin wrote in an August 24 entry on her weblog that the “stomach-turning” incident resulted from “a reported dispute over their [the soldiers'] dates.” Similarly, on the August 25 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity said: “Now allegedly, the three aggressors groped some female companions of the soldiers, so one of the women threw a hot dog at them. The suspects then chased after the soldiers and beat them.”

From the August 26 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: One final story before we go to the break. For those of you who still have an open mind about the anti-war left in this country, this story is out of Seattle. “Two soldiers who just returned from a year in Iraq were badly beaten in an attack outside Pioneer Square in Seattle. But, believe it or not, someone caught the beating on videotape and now police are asking for help identifying the suspects. The brutality of it all was captured on tape outside of Larry's Nightclub on First and Yesler on July 31. Police say the victims were with two women who had been groped by the suspects. One of the women threw a hotdog at the suspects and walked away. But they didn't get very far. The three suspects ran after then, began attacking the two men -- two soldiers who'd come home from Iraq. The graphic videotape shows both victims getting beaten over and over again and then after one of the victims loses consciousness, a suspect starts stomping on his head. Now, the cops want your help in catching these guys. Seattle Police Officer Sean Whitcomb said, 'We consider them very dangerous.' After not getting any leads, the Seattle police have just released the video to the media, even though it happened over three weeks ago.”

I think it's been on television starting last night, so the video's been seen. “But clubs and business that the Seattle newspaper spoke with” -- ah, actually -- yeah, KOMO-TV is what this is -- have just received -- “wonder why the police waited for almost a month before making the tape public. Both victims suffered broken jaws. One suffered a broken arm. Both had other broken bones and several bruises.” And the [KOMO] website published some still shots of the suspects from the, from the video. So, ah, once again, ah, the anti-war left, claiming to be a peace movement, illustrates itself to be anything but.