Iraq Ministry Forms Unit to Monitor News

AP via ABC News ^ | Nov 30, 2006

[james500]

Iraq's Interior Ministry said Thursday it had formed a special unit to monitor news coverage and vowed to take legal action against journalists who failed to correct stories the ministry deemed to be incorrect.

[james500]

Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesman for the ministry, said the purpose of the special monitoring unit was to find "fabricated and false news that hurts and gives the Iraqis a wrong picture that the security situation is very bad, when the facts are totally different."

EXCELLENT! I'm excited about the prospect of them taking a much more 'active' role in battling AP/Reuters than the Bush administration or DOD are able (politically) to take.

[newconhere]

Good. Should have done this sooner. The media is a huge if not the main "front line" in this war. On this side of the ocean too.

[ArmstedFragg]

Did you see the last paragraph? Same old routine, trying to equate a request for them to stop lying with Saddam's censorship.

[NurdlyPeon]

This is great. Best piece of news I've heard in a month.

[james500]

"AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll rejected the accusation. "The implication that we may have given money to the captain is false. The AP does not pay for information," she said."


So the stringers are working pro bono?

[SCHROLL]

Guess Capt. Hussien is now out of a job. What will the AP do for their stories now?

[Paleo Conservative]

I sure wish Keith Olberman would broadcast from Iraq.

[tsmith130]

Specifically, Ramadi.

[bybybill]

WAR IS OVER WAR IS OVER WAR IS OVER

[RedRover]

This is great news. I loved this thread earlier today AP caught working for the enemy.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Like Reuters, AP in Iraq relies on local stringers--part-time reporters paid by the word or picture--to produce "news". If you look at the credits on the bottom of most of AP's Iraq stories there will be a list of Iraqi names. These are the people who actually go to the scene and phone back the information to the AP bureau in the Green Zone. This means the world's main source of news on Iraq outsources most of its reporting to some very dubious characters. AP can be e-mailed at:

info@ap.org

[Diana in Wisconsin]

As long as he doesn't appoint "Baghdad Bob" I'm cool with it. ;)

The Collected Quotations of "Baghdad Bob," Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf: The Iraqi Minister of DisInformation

Mocking the Coalition's Attempt To Target Saddam Hussein:
"These villains, and in particular the villain Bush, said they had struck Iraq with 40 cruise missiles to assassinate President Saddam Hussein. Not only are they disappointed, I think they are hysterical."

Attempting to Acknowledge What Was Happening Militarily Beyond Baghdad:
March 22, 2003
"Maybe they will enter Umm Qasr and Basra, but how will they enter Baghdad? It will be a big oven for them. They can penetrate our borders but they cannot reach Baghdad. They will try to pull our army and troops out but we are well aware of their plans and they will fail."

March 23, 2003
"In Umm Qasr, the fighting is fierce and we have inflicted many damages. The stupid enemy, the Americans and British, failed completely. They're not making any penetration."

As Televised Reports of U.S. Forces Approaching the Outskirts of Western Baghdad Are Shown:
"They are not any place. They are on the move everywhere. They are a snake moving in the desert. They hold no place in Iraq. This is an illusion."

After U.S. Forces Seized Baghdad's Airport:
"We butchered the force present at the airport. We have retaken the airport! There are no Americans there!"

After U.S. Troops Penetrated Central Baghdad:
April 5, 2003
"Nobody came here. Those America losers, I think their repeated frequent lies are bringing them down very rapidly.... Baghdad is secure, is safe."

April 5, 2003
"They are not near Baghdad. Don't believe them.... They said they entered with... tanks in the middle of the capital. They claim that they - I tell you, I... that this speech is too far from the reality. It is a part of this sickness of their plan. There is no an... - no any existence to the American troops or for the troops in Baghdad at all."

April 6, 2003
"Whenever we attack, they retreat. When we pound them with missiles and heavy artillery, they retreat even deeper. But when we stopped pounding, they pushed to the airport for propaganda purposes."

April 7, 2003
"The Americans are not there. They're not in Baghdad. There are no troops there. Never. They're not at all."

April 7, 2003
"U.S. forces learned a lesson last night they will never forget. We slaughtered them and will continue to slaughter them."

April 7, 2003
"There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad."

With Media Pictures of U.S. Troops Being Shown Standing Under the Giant Crossed Swords in Saddam's Favorite Parade Grounds in Baghdad, While Giving a Press Briefing Around the Corner:
"There you can see, there is nothing going on."

After U.S. Missiles Destroyed His Office in the Information Ministry and He was Forced to Give Press Briefings on the Street:
"They will be burnt. We are going to tackle them."

Disputing His Own Assertions of No Coalition Troops in Baghdad:
"We blocked them inside the city. Their rear is blocked.... They pushed a few of their armored carriers and some tanks with their soldiers. We besieged them and I think we will finish them soon."

While American Soldiers Are Showering in Saddam's Bathroom Nearby Presidential Palace:
"We have killed most of the [coalition] infidels, and I think we will finish off the rest soon."

After Being Shown Footage of Iraqi Soldiers Surrendering:
"Those are not Iraqi soldiers at all."

April 7, 2003
"This invasion will end in failure."

April 8, 2003
"Baghdad Bob" disappeared, perhaps forever. On the other hand, perhaps he will return as Minister of Information for France or be awarded a drive time show on the new liberal talk radio network.

http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/baghdad_bob.htm

[abercrombie_guy_38]

Our government should take a hint.