Facts Matter: Biden overstated size of Afghanistan military

While speaking about the situation in Afghanistan after his decision to withdraw American troops, President Joe Biden said the U.S. has helped build a large Afghan military.

"We spent over a trillion dollars," Biden said during an Aug. 16 speech at the White House. "We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong - incredibly well-equipped - a force larger in size than the militaries of many of our NATO allies."

But the president overstated the number of Afghan military personnel, according to The Washington Post. Afghanistan has an active force of 178,800, which comprises 171,500 members of the army and 7,300 air force personnel.

Biden is using a figure that includes 99,000 members of the Afghan National Police, the Post reported. However, that group is separate from the military. The police force reports to the Interior Ministry while the military is under the Defense Ministry.

If Afghanistan had a force as large as the number Biden cited, it would have the second largest military among NATO allies, only behind Turkey's 355,200 active troops and 378,700 reserves. Afghanistan doesn't have reserve troops.

Biden also claimed the Afghan military was 300,000 strong in April, July and earlier this month.

No welcoming center for immigrants

A recent social media post claims billions of American tax dollars will be used to build a welcoming center for immigrants entering the country illegally.

"The 2.5 Billion allocated towards a 'Welcoming Center for Illegal Aliens' should be allocated towards LEGAL Americans only. After all, it is American tax dollars!" read a post on Facebook and Twitter.

This claim is false, according to The Associated Press. There is no welcoming center planned at the border.

"There is no truth to that rumor," a spokesman from U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the AP.

The $1 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act does include nearly $3.4 billion for construction and repairs at border stations and land ports of entry. But not a welcoming center.

The bloggers responsible for the post told the AP they didn't say the center was part of the infrastructure bill but wouldn't name a source for the claim.

Image of Biden's teleprompter is fake

As President Joe Biden wrapped up recent comments about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, he concluded with, "God protect our troops, our diplomats and all great Americans serving in harm's way."

He then left the podium without answering any questions being shouted out by reporters.

After the speech, an image of the teleprompter with the words "leave now" at the end of his remarks began circulating on social media.

The image is fake, according to PolitiFact.com. A photo of the teleprompter was altered to add the words.

A video published by The Washington Post shows Biden leaving the stage, and the camera then pans to the room full of reporters and photographers. The teleprompter can be seen, still displaying the end of president's speech. After "Americans serving in harm's way," there are only three pound signs (###) indicating the end of the text, PolitiFact reported.

Fake 'Space Jam' quote not from LeBron

The movie "Space Jam: A New Legacy" recently brought in $31.6 million in ticket sales in its first weekend.

But some social media posts suggest that wasn't enough money for the film's star.

"LeBron James blames disappointing SPACE JAM 2 numbers on the 'long history of systematic racism at the box office,'" said a Twitter post that was shared on Facebook.

James never said that, according to USA Today.

The post was from a parody BBC News account, displaying a BBC News logo, which has posted fake headlines in the past.

Before it was suspended by Twitter, the account's bio stated, "This is a parody account." But there was no such disclaimer on the post itself, which many users copied as a screen shot and shared as fact, USA Today reported.

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.