Over Independent Sources I have been tracking the saga of Capt. Jamil Hussien. An AP source whose identity was questioned by Curt at Flopping Aces; the apparent inability of the US Military (CENTCOM), the Iraqi Police, or the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior to verify his existence has cause quite a stir in the blogosphere. Today Tom Zeller Jr. weighs in on the New York Times The Lede Blog, stating:
another battle is brewing. This one pits conservative bloggers and the military’s communications machine against the Associated Press — and the media at large.
He goes on to give the background of the immolation story which touched off the questioning of Capt. Hussien as a source and then states:
(For its part, The New York Times took note of the incident on Saturday, in a larger story about the mosque burnings, this way: “In the evening, a resident named Imad al-Hashemi said in a telephone interview on Al Jazeera, the Arab news network, that gunmen had doused some people with gasoline and set them on fire. Other residents contacted by telephone denied this.”)
Effectively verifying the Military's version of events, but even given this Zeller appears to stand with the AP on the credibility of it's story.
I responded as follows (with a little editing in brackets):
I have been following the Jamil Hussien story via http://floppingaces.net and http://michellemalkin.com.
The questions that are arisng do not concern just one story but a series of stories stretching back to April of this year, which is the first time this sources name appears in print despite his being a source for years. All the stories are written by the same individual Qais al-Bashir, and according to APs own response he is the only one who seems to have met Capt. Hussien. The stories [<strike>are</strike>] also all give the impression of worsening sectarian violence.
Given the recent history of the media (Jayson Blair, Adnan Hajj, Bilal Hussien) as well as the known plans of Al-Qaeda to wage an information war I don't think [it is unreasonable <strike>the</strike> that] questions are being raised. Especially if the current portrayls of an Iraq spinning out of control are exaggerated by sloppy reporting or an active media disinformation program.
Other items to consider:
A Mahdi Army Press Release denies the incident
A key witness in the original AP story later recanted
Capt Hussien originally said the attack in question continued until American forces arrived and stopped it. This is the way AP originally reported it, they later said that no American forces were present and base part of their defense of Capt Hussien on the fact that no Americans were present so how can they deny the attack to place.
Later defenses of the story by the AP have changed the source to "a captain"The witnesses who are quoted as confirming the original story are anonymous.
To my knowledge no editor or other management offical at AP has independently verified Capt. Hussiens bona fides.
Finally as you yourself point out the New York Times could not verify the story.
Thanks for your time
chad
http://kurulounge.blogspot.com
http://independentsources.comBTW - Did you really mean to imply that the US media is at war with the US Military. That is what your opening paragraph does.
Since comments are moderated at The Lede I am not sure mine will make it into print.
To me this is important not because Capt. Hussien may or may not exist, but because certain events which are having a huge impact on the American Psyche and support for the war in Iraq / War on Terror may not have happened. I am not in Iraq so I have to rely on second hand reporting. If that reporting is inaccurate my perceptions are skewed and that is important.
Disclaimer- I am not in any way, shape or form disputing that Iraq is in the midst of a bloody cycle of violence. I might even agree that it is a civil war, although the one thing that would really make me call it that is hasn't occurred yet (a breakdown of the government along sectarian lines). All I am saying is that when people in whom trust has been placed to present an accurate picture of events potentially allow themselves to be compromised it is concerning.
Updated 11/30/2006 1:43 PM
I have been found wanting by the New York Times. I submitted my comments twice and they have not been posted. I'm not sure why I felt they were on-topic, brought out information not covered in Mr. Zeller's piece, and were not abusive, but apparently I was wrong.
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