From the NY Daily News:

“They said, ‘You gotta quit smoking,’” Thompson explained to a questioner asking about progress in Iraq during a town hall-style meeting. Thompson said the smoking ban and terror tactics Al Qaeda used to oppress women and intimidate local leaders pushed tribes in western Anbar Province to support U.S. troops.

But Thompson’s tale of a smokers’ revolt baffled some in the audience of about 150 who came to decide whether the former Tennessee senator is ready for prime time.

“I don’t know what that was about,” said Jim Moran, 72, who had driven from nearby McCook Lake, S.D.

The right leaning NewsBusters points out that Thompson at the very least had some credibility here as CNN along with a military blogger both made mention of this ban over the summer and the brutal punishment for ignoring it. So there was a smoking ban, it did bother people and it was part of large mistreatment by al Qaeda that would have turned Iraqi’s away.

The problem for Thompson is that when you assert something to an audience you have to explain what you are talking about. If you don’t then forming conclusions about a complex issue around a simple explanation that an audience doesn’t understand will only make you, the speaker, look silly.