See previous: L.A. Times reprinting enemy propaganda?, Milbloggers Weigh in on the Flawed L.A. Times Story on the “Airstrike” in Ramadi

Bombshell: Centcom says AP’s Iraqi police source isn’t Iraqi police
Allahpundit

I laid off this post at Flopping Aces initially because I didn’t think there was anything particularly suspicious about the cop. Centcom was disputing his report of the six Sunnis burned alive by Shiites but they could have been wrong just as easily as he could. I also didn’t (and still don’t) see Curt’s point about the cop only being quoted in cases where Shiites attack Sunnis. If he’s stationed in an area where Shiite attacks on Sunnis are common, that’s going to happen.

But go see his latest update, all the way at the bottom. And bear in mind — the AP’s been using this guy for months.

Like Patterico said about that L.A. Times airstrike story that’s imploding at an ever accelerating rate:

[...]

Goldstein thinks this is evidence that the violence in Iraq isn’t pandemic, which is a lot further than I’m willing to go. But he’s always worth reading, so partake. Centcom, meanwhile, is demanding a retraction from the AP. They haven’t, to my knowledge, demanded one from the L.A. Times, but Patterico sort of has. Response thus far: zero. ...

Per email from Curt, his site has a bad habit of crashing when he gets heavy traffic. If the link in Allahpundit's post doesn't work click here.

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Whether you can get to Curt's post or not, don't miss SeeDubya's excellent related post here.

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Willful Suspension of Disbelief, redux
Jeff Goldstein

From Curt at Flopping Aces comes the news many of us quietly expected:  Centcom has confirmed that Capt. Jamil Hussein, the primary source for the recent kerosene mosque murder reports—and for a whole host of reports of Shia massacres recounted by the AP—is neither an employee of Iraq’s Ministry of Interior nor is he a police captain.

In short, the AP has been relying on a bogus source for much of its reporting on Shia violence against Sunnis since at least April.

For those who continue to suggest that the mainstream press has a negligible impact on elections, consider that the majority of Americans who bothered to pay any attention whatsoever to this story will be left with an account of horrific sectarian violence against women and children—and the belief that sectarian strife in Iraq is not only inexorable and savage, but pandemic.

Underlying this reportage, then, is an unseemly subtext:  that Arabs in Iraq—and perhaps even Arabs in general—are incapable of working toward a free society, one that, through a series of ratified political documents and elections, has merely pretended to be taking its first tentative steps toward the acceptance of a baby pluralism.  Consequently, the blood and treasure spent in Iraq has never been worth the cost, and—our failure now all but imminent thanks to a genetic or systemic flaw in the Arab constitution—we should be therefore be looking for a way to retreat with honor.  Or perhaps a way to reinstall Saddam Hussein.  You know, to stabilize things.

Whether this narrative is the product of willful distortion or merely the laziness that comes with being fed stories that match your preconceptions is almost beside the point when it comes to effect—though the former is clearly more despicable, and, should it prove to be the case, has the practical effect of undermining a representative democracy that can only work properly if citizens are being given accurate accountings of events by those purporting to do so.  ...

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Michelle has an excellent related post here. Read it all.

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See also: Video: NBC declares ‘civil war’ in Iraq

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Power Line has more here, including a copy of CENTCOM's news release pertaining to this subject.

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Does AP Iraqi writer Qais al-Bashir have super powers?
SeeDubya

It's looking like AP Baghdad correspondent Qais al-Bashir is the only one who can see this mysterious, non-existent "Captain Jamil Hussein". Well, it's not for certain yet, but al Bashir is the common element in four stories involving Captain Snuffleupagus. Er, Jamil Hussein: ...

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Part 1 of a series, as it turns out. Part 2 is here.