Jamil identified, facing arrest? -- Day 3
(Updated and bumped)
CENTCOM says AP's "Iraqi police source" isn't Iraqi police -- Part 31 -- Continued from this post.
Never was the patient type. I'm ready for mugshots, or at least a CENTCOM news release. It's been a good 32 hours since the big AP announcement that Jamil's been identified and at this point all we have is their word for it. I'm more than a little disappointed with the number of right-of-moonbat bloggers who are simply taking that at face value. Guess I'll go ahead and get the framework for a new post in place, get some sleep, and hope there's big news breaking by the time I get up. In the mean time I'll still stand by the prediction I made in my last two posts: What we're going to be hearing by Saturday is: "Jamil's afraid of getting arrested so he's gone so deep underground that even his old AP contacts can't find him. But we really did talk to him last week. Really we did. Really!"
It'll be almost noon in Baghdad by the time I post this. Tick. Tick. Tick.
*** Shut Up and Read
Jules Crittenden
Byline's back on the E&P Jamil articles, now that "Capt. Jamil Hussein" has been "found." By Joe Strupp
NEW YORK -- Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on Friday criticized those who questioned the existence of an AP Iraq source, who was proven this week to be real, saying the scrutiny has now endangered the man's life.
"I never quite understood why people chose to disbelieve us about this particular man on this particular story," Carroll told E&P, referring to Jamil Hussein, an Iraq police captain. "AP runs hundreds of stories a day, and has run thousands of stories about things that have happened in Iraq."
Carroll asks a very good question. The AP publishes hundreds of stories a day. Why should anyone give a damn if any of them are accurate? Grubby impertinent news reader people. Just because the AP's claim of four mosques torched and six people burned to death as troops looked on was outlandish, remains unsubstantiated and government officials said the source didn't exist. ...
Strupp also fails to include any quotes or material supporting his lede's claim that Jamil's "life" ... if in fact he has one ... is in danger as a result of the blogosphere's attention. ...
Read the whole thing.
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Just a little taste of what we're up against trying to get the left half of this country to take a realistic look at this situation. Jules and I, and Michelle, Curt, Ace, Glenn Reynolds, Dan Riehl, and some guy named "Petterico," got an email yesterday afternoon from one Alexander Wolfe. It starts off thusly ... Well, now perhaps some of you bozos can go on over there and try to bail him out so you can get the "real story" from him.
... and includes a full copy of this American Prospect piece -- I guess copyright laws and fair use don't matter when it's for the greater good -- which ends with Those are not encouraging signs. When people "disappear" in Baghdad it usually means something bad has happened.
I wrote back and copied everyone but Petterico: Or that they never existed, maybe? "Gee whiz, now he's had to go into hiding, but we really did talk to him a couple of days ago. Really. No, really!"
... to which Alex (May I call you Alex? There, that's a good boy.) responded: Well yes, that would be the only logical conclusion upon realizing that a man whom you insisted did not exist, actually does exist. But as I said below, perhaps now someone would be kind enough to go to Iraq and pay his bail so you can "interview" him about all the stories he made up to undermine the American people's faith in the war in Iraq.
Alexander Wolfe
Bedford, TX
Actually, Alex, I'm quite confident that if he does exist he will be interviewed, thoroughly. I'm counting on it. I'm smiling about it. Sorta scary to know people like me exist, isn't it Alex? Probably scarier to know I lived in Bedford for several years and the phone number on my cell phone still starts with 817. Imagine that! One of John Kerry's baby killers lived right there in town and still considers that area home. And wants to see Jamil, if he actually exists, drawn and quartered. Sleep tight, Alex.
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I'm not going to post Alex's next mail but I'll give him credit for being good natured about things, anyway. And, no, Alex, I probably won't be posting pics of your house on my site.
Looks like Curt and I were posting about the same time. I think there must be some delay in the feeds on the Power Line News site; I should have checked his site directly instead of just watching for PL News to say it had been updated. The AP Whining, & Whining Some More
Posted by Curt
Funny thing, it's going on 32 hours since the AP first reported that the Iraqi MoI has admitted that Jamil Hussein is real and what do we have to show for it? Nada.
The Iraqi MoI has not issued a statement to anyone, neither has Centcom. ...
Nevermind that he gave false information to create even more sectarian division....let all pull out our kleenex for the poor widdle AP stringer, who was so unafraid of any possible repercussions that he gave his name, rank, and employment location in over 60 stories.
Just like they did with Bilal Hussein, who was found with terrorist contraband, they are now crying over another source with questionable ties.
I would settle for some confirmation that this guy exists from someone OTHER then the AP at this point seeing as how we can't trust them as far as we can throw them.
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Dafydd has an absolutely awesome series up: Media Matters In the Meme Streets of Baghdad - 1, Media Matters In the Meme Streets of Baghdad - B, Media Matters In the Meme Streets of Baghdad - iii. Gotta be honest and admit I simply don't have the attention span to write something like that and If I did I'd do something pedestrian like calling them Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Guess that's why he gets all the traffic.
*** Update and bump. Original timestamp 00:59 New Twists In The Jamil Hussein Saga
Curt,
Here's what I can tell you:
1. Media reports about Jamil didn't use his name as he is known at work so we had trouble finding him (Jamil Gulaim as opposed to Jamil Hussein: the initial query we got from MNFI was for "Jamil Hussein".
2. The real issue is this: Jamil works in Al Khadra (think of Staten Island) -- he's telling the media about Al Hurriah murders (Think of Queens -- it's a different area of the city):
- Why would any reporter consider this guy a reliable source under these circumstances?
- ...
- ...
Which throws a monkey wrench into the AP assertion that the MoI was inept in not searching for Jamil Hussein via his middle name. Khalaf offered no explanation Thursday for why the ministry had initially denied Hussein's existence, other than to state that its first search of records failed to turn up his full name. He also declined to say how long the ministry had known of its error and why it had made no attempt in the past six weeks to correct the public record. ...
Read the whole thing. This just keeps getting better.
*** AP's Carrol Is Wrong On Jamil Hussein
Dan Riehl
As Charles at lgf points out, AP's Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll now says she is concerned for the well being of Jamil Hussein and places the blame for that on bloggers; however, that is not what the record actually reflects. Stripping away Carroll's hyperbole and looking at the facts, if anything, the blog coverage of the Hussein issue may well have done more to protect him, than did the AP. NEW YORK Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on Friday criticized those who questioned the existence of an AP Iraq source, who was proven this week to be real, saying the scrutiny has now endangered the man’s life.
Read Carroll's first statement on the issue: No organization has done more to try to shed light on what happened Nov. 24 in the Hurriyah neighborhood of Baghdad than The Associated Press.
We have not ignored the questions about our work raised by the U.S. military and later, by the Iraqi Interior Ministry. Indeed, we published those questions while also sending AP journalists back out to the scene to dig further into what happened and why others might be questioning the initial accounts.
The reality is this, the AP used a named source - with his approval, I assume - to report a highly controversial event which both the US military and the Iraqi ministry questioned. To begin with, Carroll's assertion of Hussein's being in danger, were it valid, would amount to a statement that under no circumstances is anyone allowed to ever question AP's reporting, or an AP named source. That is complete nonsense and reflects more of a problem with Carroll's and evidently AP's thinking, than it does any issue for blogs.
Furthermore, ...
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Patterico has two excellent related posts here and here. I don't know how I missed them earlier.
*** Media Matters lies about HA’s response to Jamilgate
Allahpundit
Here’s what’s cooking on their front page as I write this. I’m surprised they used a good photo of Michelle; the official left-wing Malkin-as-hate-object signal is one of those goofy screencaps from her appearance on Hardball.
It must be because they’re respectable.
The headline, “Warbloggers refuse to admit their errors in making fraud allegations against AP,” links to Boehlert’s latest piece. It’s followed by an item about Brit Hume supposedly announcing that the AP’s been vindicated on the whole “Iraq atrocity story.” Alas, that’s not what Hume said, but that’s beside the point. The point is, by starting with that headline and the Hume item, MM wants you to scan the remaining items and think that they’re all examples of warbloggers responding to the news about Hussein’s existence by taking shots at Boehlert to change the subject. E.g., “Hot Air on ‘Boehlert’s disingenuousness.’” See the irony? I reacted to evidence of the Iraqi MOI’s disingenuousness by accusing Boehlert of the same because I can’t admit when I’m wrong. Wingnut.
Except I didn’t. Media Matters’s item about Hot Air links to a post I wrote in December answering Boehlert’s columns on Jamilgate. ...
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Patterico: Media Matters Distorts Something (Yawn)
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Part 31 of a series. Part 32
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