AP Gets Caught Working For The Enemy (SHOCKING NEWS ALERT)

Strategypage ^ | 11/30/06

[Valin]

November 30, 2006: Two blogs, Gateway Pundit and Flopping Aces, have uncovered what appears to be a serious screw-up by the Associated Press in its coverage of Iraq. It appears that this American media outlet passed on terrorist propaganda, perhaps willingly. The mistake in question involves at least ten stories since April 27 in which a Captain Jemil Hussein was a source. Six of these stories involved alleged massacres of Sunni Arabs. Four others involved unknown victims. A second AP source in the Iraqi police, Lieutenant Maithem Abdul Rizzaq, is also proving to be nonexistent, according to Central Command and the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior. This is not the first time the media has been caught with bad stories and invented sources, but this is the most serious.

In 2005, media outlets ran with stories about the Koran being flushed by guards at Guantanamo Bay. These stories proved to be false – the flushing had been done by detainees. This had not come out until after a series of riots fanned by politicians across the Middle East led to several deaths. In another vein, claims of torture were made in public forums (most notably the floor of the United States Senate) and passed on. Later investigation not only failed to uncover such things, but discovered that in some of the very few cases where the line was crossed, there was provocation (such as spitting on a guard).

This also is bad when what the media omits is considered. For instance, the photos used by the media in various reports, as late as 2005, on the detainee camps, also took things out of context. The images used were of Camp X-Ray, a temporary camp that was replaced by Camp Delta in April, 2002. Camp Delta is on par with the latest correctional institutions in the United States. A detainee Time magazine profiled in 2005, was slated to be the 20th hijacker – the fifth person on Flight 93. Another detainee traveled to Pakistan in 1998 with an Iraqi intelligence officer to carry out an attack on the American and British embassies using chemical weapons. Nor has the media mentioned the fact that at least a dozen detainees that have been released have gone back to fighting with al Qaeda. The media has also neglected to point out that al Qaeda manuals instruct members to make false claims of being tortured if they are captured.

What makes this new AP case so bad is the fact that the phony source could have been easily exposed, had the AP bothered to contact Central Command. Central Command's public affairs office has its phone number listed – along with an e-mail address. An e-mail address for Multinational Forces Iraq is also available. Yet the AP failed to check for at least ten stories. Failing to check a source once might fall into the category of an understandable mistake, but failing to check up on sources more than ten times is an incredible stretch. Central Command has informed the AP of these phony sources, but the AP is standing by its stories, claiming that they are using "a wide range of sources". This apparently includes phony sources.

Western media have long allowed themselves to be manipulated by Iraqi Sunni Arabs, largely because these media outlets opposed the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and the Sunni Arab dictatorship that Saddam ran. The Sunni Arab minority (about 20 percent of the population in 2003, closer to ten percent now) were not only running Iraq, but had long been the wealthiest and best educated segment of the population. Thus is was easy for pro-Sunni Arab Western and Arab journalists to find articulate (often English speaking) Iraqi Sunni Arabs to provide useful quotes and sound bites. With that experience, it was a short step to inventing Sunni Arab sources, which was more convenient. This is an old custom in journalism. For example, Time Magazine was long known for its invented sources, and some avid Time fans would keep track of the names of sources quoted in the magazine, until they found the latest invented one. This was easy to do, because the same name showed up in different parts of the country, or the world, and in very different situations.

The current use of phony sources by AP has led to multiple reports that not only paint what appears to be a distorted picture of what is going on inside Iraq, but also reflects poorly on Iraqi police and Army personnel who are fighting terrorists. These reports, based on phony sources, have also misled the American people. But then, many Americans already knew that, because troops in Iraq, usually reported a very different reality. The Associated Press is going to have some serious explaining to do. Those who want to get the straight scoop from Iraq should check out Central Command's newsroom website or the Department of Defense's website. – Harold C. Hutchison (haroldc.hutchison@gmail.com)

[RedRover]

Meanwhile, I was on another AP article thread and the comments made me shake my head. Even Freepers fall for AP bullmurtha.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Excellent post.....

Everyone needs to read some of this....

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There is a book (now available in paperback ):

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Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left
(Hardcover)
by David Horowitz

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And reviews:

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Editorial Reviews

Rich Lowry, Editor National Review

David Horowitz is synonymous with pyrotechnics. A historian and polemicist of the first order, he is paid the ultimate compliment --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Davis Hanson, Author, Ripples of Battle

An original look at those who want us to fail in the Middle East, both at home and abroad. The --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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See all Editorial Reviews

Fascinating Analysis of Leftist Goals, August 13, 2006

Reviewer: N. Sincerity - See all my reviews

A former 1960s radical, Horowitz is well-acquainted with the Leftist mindset. In this book, he strives to explain the modern alliance between left wing progressivists and radical Islamofascists. He argues that this alliance is based on a common desire to destroy Western capitalism. Leftist sympathy with Islamofascist ideas makes no sense from an intellectual point of view, given that countries ruled by radical Islamists are among the most racist, sexist, theocratic states in the world today. However, Leftists have recognized that they can benefit politically from destructive terrorist attacks on the Western world. A West under attack can be made to turn on its leaders in fear and desperation (as they did in Spain after the Madrid train bombings). Only once people reject current government structures can the Left execute its anti-capitalist revolution and build a new reality that mirrors the Leftist view of utopia. The complete and utter idealogical hypocrisy of the Islamofascist-Leftist alliance is distressing, but as Horowitz reminds us, Leftists radicals truly believe the ends justify the means.

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[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

They have the ACLU protecting their troops....see my post above about the Unholy Alliance book.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Your tagline and your statement don't seem to be related!!!!

Could you explain!

[tobyhill]

I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to as in "related"?

[tobyhill]

I wasn't referring to our troops, I was referring to getting the MSM out so our troops can do their jobs. This thread was about the AP.

[tobyhill]

My bad, I understand what you were asking now and I was talking about getting the MSM out of Iraq, not our troops.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

The print media are suffering financially and are reacting, not by being better journalists, but by cutting their newsroom staffs. Notice nearly any newspaper and most national and international news are reprints of articles from AP, Reuters, and to a lessor extent UPI.

That means the left need only control three sources, not hundreds, in order to keep their biased propaganda reported as news.

We already know about CNN and other leftist TV journalism paying off the enemy with favorable reporting just to have "access."

[Frank Sheed]

Check also the excellent summaries this evening on the Belmont Club. Wretchard has a great summary and the comments are really great. The comment signed the "Captain and Jamil" made me laugh out loud.

Francis

[Velveeta]

Centcom: Iraqis will announce tomorrow that AP source is fake
http://hotair.com/archives/2006/11/29/centcom-iraqis-will-announce-tomorrow-that-ap-source-is-fake/

Note to Sam Hill from the hot air link:

"It’s true that the five other victims weren’t named, but the witness did say they all belonged to the al-Mashadani tribe"

Interesting, isn't it Sam, that al-Mashadani name involved in yet another fake news story - same name from the Haditha story. ;-)

[freema]

........whole discussions emerge with nary a thought as regards the veracity of a given article...all the while whining about the msm. Thanks for the ping, Red.

[RedRover]

BTTT!

[Eva]

Judging by the ungracious response from the AP, I'd say that the collusion was knowing and willing.

[Valin]

The doom and gloomers were in fine form. BTW did you know that we are doomed? Oh yes doomed, and all because everything is not working out exactly like I want it to, and the war is not over in 2 1/2 hours like a movie. What we need to do now is listen to what (incert your favorite talking head here) say and do exactly what they say.

[Valin]

Begs the question, Why doesn't AP produce Capt. Jamil Hussein? If he's a regular source of theirs it shouldn't really be a problem to produce him