War of words

The Guardian says US defense spending is "scary and scandalous".

Fine. I don't agree, but I'll let it pass. What I object to is the snotty way the Guardian treats this quote from George Bush.

Yet Mr Bush suggested that terrorism now represented the most potent threat in the history of the US. "The war on terror is different than (sic) any war America has ever fought," he said

That "sic" is the Guardian’s. The leader writer is informing us that the president made an error in speech which the Guardian has faithfully reproduced. Except the president wasn't in error and the Guardian is simply displaying its ignorance of American English.

On this side of the Atlantic, it may be considered grammatical incorrect to say “different than” but in the States it’s common and accepted usage.

Sometimes, I think the Guardian would criticize a little less if it understood a little more.

Update
Or maybe not. Perhaps this kind of thing depends not on ignorance but on prejudice; another example of "the condescending sneer".