AP Stands by The Fake Capt. Jamil

[UPDATE] 12/09/06- Curt from Flopping Aces has issued his response to the AP's inane statements.

Ray Robison points to AP tripping over their own wire and The Jawa Report has quite a little review of the AP's credibility issues. [End Update]

The AP makes a statement that they stand by thier story that came from a fake police Capt, he doesn't exist or he lied about being a police officer. They stand by the burning six story, yet have no evidence of any "bodies" that were burned. They stand by their report, although another reporter from the NYT, Ed Wong, in Iraq, couldn't not find any witnesses and could get no verification of said story. They stand by their reporter that cannot produce one verifiable fact about said story.

Impressive.

Via USA Today.

Lt. Dean's letter to the AP:

Dear Associated Press:

On Nov. 24, 2006, your organization published an article by Qais Al-Bashir about six Sunnis being burned alive in the presence of Iraqi Police officers. This news item, which is below, received an enormous amount of coverage internationally.

We at Multi-National Corps - Iraq made it known through MNC-I Press Release Number 20061125-09 and our conversations with your reporters that neither we nor Baghdad Police had any reports of such an incident after investigating it and could find no one to corroborate the story. A couple of hours ago, we learned something else very important.

We can tell you definitively that the primary source of this story, police Capt. Jamil Hussein, is not a Baghdad police officer or an MOI employee. We verified this fact with the MOI through the Coalition Police Assistance Training Team.

Also, we definitely know, as we told you several weeks ago through the MNC-I Media Relations cell, that another AP-popular IP spokesman, Lt. Maithem Abdul Razzaq, supposedly of the city's Yarmouk police station, does not work at that police station and is also not authorized to speak on behalf of the IP. The MOI has supposedly issued a warrant for his questioning.

I know we have informed you that there exists an MOI edict that no one below the level of chief is authorized to be an Iraqi Police spokesperson. An unauthorized IP spokesperson will get fired for talking to the media. While I understand the importance of a news agency to use anonymous and unauthorized sources, it is still incumbent upon them to make sure their facts are straight. Was this information verified by anyone else? If the source providing the information is lying about his name, then he ought not to be represented as an official IP spokesperson and should be listed as an anonymous source.

Unless you have a credible source to corroborate the story of the people being burned alive, we respectfully request that AP issue a retraction, or a correction at a minimum, acknowledging that the source named in the story is not who he claimed he was. MNC-I and MNF-I are always available and willing to verify events and provide as much information as possible when asked.

Very respectfully,
LT Dean
Michael B. Dean
Lieutenant, U.S. Navy
MNC-I Joint Operations Center
Public Affairs Officer

You have to wonder what is so hard for AP to understand about that statement.

Their source is NOT who they say he is, produce him. Their were no funerals or bodies...produce pictures of them. Their are no independent witnesses produced. How much more does the AP need to be shown before they admit the truth. They screwed up. They either lied or were lied to, but the more they keep insisting that the invisible man exist, they more they lose their credibility.

Because the AP fails to acknowledge their shoddy reporting the MOI now has to create a special unit just to counter the lies coming from the media.

A Statement from the Ministry of Interior

After media became free in Iraq and expressed the will of all without the government interfering, unfortunately, some satellite TV channels began misleading public opinion and disclosing chaos for a particular political agenda, by broadcasting propaganda that harms people and tries to shake the trust in security forces.

Such satellite channels are trying to affect Iraqi unity and claim that information was stated by a security source without mentioning the source. Information sources should be well-known and reliable, and to avoid repeating such unfair actions, MOI warns the media and insists on defending the people’s security and safety. MOI will take all immediate preventive procedures against media that broadcast propaganda, because such media intend to repress the will of Iraqis in fighting terror and crime.

We would like to mention that such procedures we do not consider as chaining true free media, but it is a legal defense for Iraqi security and the safety of our people.

If you have any additional questions, please let us know.

Vr,
LT Dean

Michael B. Dean
Lieutenant, U.S. Navy
MNC-I Joint Operations Center
Public Affairs Officer

michael.dean@iraq.centcom.mil
MNCI-PAO-VictoryMainJOC@iraq.centcom.mil
Multinational Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office

Well done AP. Now you have made things difficult on every reporter there, even the ones that are trying to report the truth instead of the propaganda you are spreading.

A little note for Kathleen Carroll, the executive editor for the AP... it isn't just the bloggers that are calling you out, the New York Post, Boston Herald, the Examiner, plus they have a commentary on it and this is just the beginning. The days of you feeding us lies without having your facts checked, are over.

Others discussing this:
Hot Air.
Michelle Malkin.
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