Whether Jamil Hussein actually exists is really a secondary issue.
The fact that the AP used a single source for dozens of inflammatory stories about atrocities in Iraq that still have yet to find any confirmation is almost as disturbing as making the source up.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/008848.php
I'm so confused, George, HELP ME!!!!!!!!
Well, no it isn't.
I am pleased to note that AP is reporting other people's lies, rather than creating fiction themselves.
It may be of interest to note the origin of newspapers. The printer would send someone to the local coffee shops and gin joints, to write down the gossip, which was set in type and printed.
Before the newspapers you would have to show up at the gin joint to hear the local events. Poor folk would get supper there, as they were often not allowed to cook in their flats (for risk of fire). Of course there were a few folks who had better insight, and when the Gaffer held forth on his favorite subject, everyone listened.
Blogs are in many ways a return to that time. where we can listen to Eugene Volkoh's table on law, Glen Reynolds on gadgets, and Charles Johnson on the funny goings on with those new people down the street.
According to AP, Jamil Gholaiem Hussein[6] is a police captain with an office at the Yarmouk police station in western Baghdad[7], and more recently in the al-Khadra district[8]. He has been cited as a police source in 61 AP stories from April 24, 2006 to November 25, 2006[9], and was said to have been "a regular source of police information for two years"[10], however an Iraqi official stated he is not on their list of Interior Ministry employees.
Besides Jamil Hussein, another source used in many AP articles is police Lt. Maithem Abdul Razzaq, who is not authorized to speak for the Iraqi Police. A warrant has been issued for his questioning by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior.[11] A partial list of other suspicious police sources under investigation has been issued.[12]
Former CNN news division chief Eason Jordan announced that his "IraqSlogger" staff in Baghdad is trying to find Jamil Hussein. He has offered to pay for Michelle Malkin to go to Baghdad to join the search along with him.[13] On December 14. 2006, Malkin accepted, and convinced Jordan to extend the invitation to "Curt", the Flopping Aces blogger.[14]
Civilian Police Advisory Training Team (CPATT) officials told Michelle Malkin about a Captain Jamil Ghdaab Gulaim (or Ghulaim) who works at the Khadra police station, and who previously worked at the Yarmouk police station, as AP claimed with regard to Jamil Hussein. Jamil Gulaim denies having contact with AP or any other media.[16] The AP has not made any claims that Jamil Gulaim is a source.
On January 1, 2007, Eason Jordan reported that he and his IraqSlogger staff can not find Jamil Hussein and that the AP needs to respond to criticisms of its credibility.
I heard that he was Greg Packer's pen pal for a while.
Sounds like they found the guy .. but nothing to back on the stories the guy told