December 18, 2006
Fedayeen AP?
To answer Ace's question, a particularly interesting part of Marc Danziger's post is the apparent discovery of Uday Hussein associate and possible Baathist dead-ender Sgt. Jamil Hussein at the police station in Yarmouk.
If it turns out that this Hussein is the man claiming to be Captain Hussein, and his tied to Uday and the Baathists can be substantiated, then we've got something juicy brewing.
The association of Muslim Scholars is widely viewed as a terrorist-friendly Sunni group with ties to the insurgency and al Qaeda, and the AP uncritically and unquestioningly cited them in this story without an apparent second thought.
If it can be substantiated that the Sgt. Hussein uncovered by Danziger's work is AP's "Captail Jamil Hussein" source, and that it can be substantiated that he has ties to Uday, or more specifically has ties with the Fedayeen Saddam, then we will have reason to wonder how much of AP's reporting has been infiltrated in such a way as to promote a pro-Sunni insurgency agenda.
Update:
A short description of the Fedayeen Saddam from the Global Security link above (my bold):
Though at times improperly termed an "elite" unit, the Fedayeen was a politically reliable force that could be counted on to support Saddam against domestic opponents. It started out as a rag-tag force of some 10,000-15,000 "bullies and country bumpkins." They were supposed to help protect the president and Uday, and carry out much of the police's dirty work.
Does it get much dirtier than alleging false massacres?
This is like walking into the middle of a Russian novel.
So, if I may...I will attempt to summarize here:
1)The AP met with "some guy" in "his office" numerous times...upon which they "sourced" over 60 stories.
2)Apparently, the AP doesn't know if this guy is a Captain or some lower ranking officer...after citing him 61 times.
3)AP doesn't know if he has ties to any particular group, which might make his objectivity an issue in question.
4)AP doesn't have anyone who verifies any of his reports, like whether there was an actual immolation, blowing up of all the mosques in question, any of the mosques in question, any of the murders...they just accept his word on faith...and then send it out to a billion readers as is.
5)And now, "some guy" may (or may not) exist...who is the person they met with (or didn't), numerous times (or less) in his office (maybe not his), as a captain of the police force (not necessarily) to discuss things that happened (or were made up out of whole cloth) to make objective reports (apparently not) on activities in that district (well, actually miles away)...so that they can PROVE that they were responsible in their reporting all along.
Have a got this down correctly?
Posted by: cfbleachers at December 18, 2006 05:47 PM
It sounds like AP would have trouble finding their ass grabbing with both hands ;->
Posted by: Purple Avenger at December 18, 2006 07:28 PMTeaser and link added to CENTCOM says AP’s "Iraqi police source" isn’t Iraqi police -- Part 20
Posted by: Bill Faith at December 18, 2006 08:58 PM
