Newsbusters has a new report out on AP's insistence that Six Sunni's were burned alive last November in Iraq. Of course, using Eason Jordan (Former CNN exec, who disgracefully resigned for his biased reporting) leaves the credibility factor of AP still in muddy waters:
"As reported here on Newsbusters the Associated Press is refusing to back down from, nor give satisfactory evidence for, its November report that 6 Iraqi Sunnis were burned alive in sectarian violence, a claim heavily disputed seemingly by everyone but the AP.
The AP based their reports of this grisly violence on the word of a single "witness" they named as Iraqi police captain, Jamail Hussein. Unfortunately for the AP, and despite quite a lot of effort by quite a few people, this captain of Iraqi police cannot be located so that the story can be substantiated. The AP, however, continues to claim that he exists despite the paucity of
evidence. "
And with Mr. Jordan's report that Jamil Hussein is still missing or otherwise indisposed, it appears AP still has some serious problems:
From Iraqslogger:
The AP's Jamil Hussein Scandal Controversy Will Haunt the AP Until It Does What is Right
By EASON JORDAN 01/01/2007 7:19 PM ET
"If an Iraqi police captain by the name of Jamil Hussein exists, there is no convincing evidence of it - and that means the Associated Press has a journalistic scandal on its hands that will fester until the AP deals with it properly.
This controversy and the AP's handling of it call into question the credibility, integrity, and smarts of one of the world's biggest, most influential, most respected news organizations, the New York-based Associated Press."
It appears that Jordan is making a case for the (probable) fabrication reported by AP, but is cautiously remaining non-committed:
"IraqSlogger's probe into the case is inconclusive, with conflicting and unconfirmed information regarding whether there's a Captain Hussein and whether the reported immolation happened."
"inconclusive, with conflicting and unconfirmed information"----- Wow, this sure sounds familiar Mr. Jordan-----now where have we heard these words before?? But Jordan does pose a few "credible" questions in his summary:
"It is striking that no one has been able to find a family member, friend, or colleague of Captain Hussein. Nor has the AP told us who in the AP's ranks has actually spoken with Captain Hussein. Nor has the AP quoted Captain Hussein once since the story of the disputed episode."
Over 60 stories released by AP to the world quoting Jamil Hussein and now their "source" is suddenly unavailable? Some bloggers and commenter's have suggested that Jamil will meet a fate that will not allow him to ever come forward, and it would certainly be easier to bury a non-existent body. Jordan offers this mea-culpa to AP:
"I, therefore, urge the AP to appoint an independent panel to determine the facts about the disputed report, to determine whether Iraqi Police Captain Jamil Hussein exists, and to share the panel's full findings and recommendations with the public."
Curt at Flopping Aces (who was the first to question AP's story) has Jordan's latest report and responds:
"Has he really learned? Remains to be seen, but his call for the AP to accept responsibility is heartening. The AP needs to accept that their use of domestic stringers is NOT working. It may make them more money since they get all the blood and guts stories, but no one knows if these stories are true anymore. We get stories from them that detail 50+ bodies being dumped daily but when I confirm this via the Iraqi police I get a number that is 1/3rd that.
We get stories that detail men being burned alive, families being killed from airstrikes, and large amounts of bodies being dumped. None of it can be verified. They use these stringers and write these stories for one reason, and one reason only, to make it appear that Iraq is much worse then it really is."
"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act. " -- George Orwell
Go and read Curts complete post-----he's got some good bloggers on this story with more credibility than AP will have if they don't come clean on this.
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