The Deciders!

And yet The Deciders say they are brave for hiding under a desk in The Green Zone relying upon a Billal Hussein-type stringer.

The deciders are nothing if not consistent.

I understand they hate George Bush. I get it. Really I do. Message received.

But JUST ONCE I would think one of these BDS suffering media outlets would stop and say "You know - we've reported, like 50 straight phony massacre and atrocity claims. In fact, there hasn't been a single one that was remotely true in, like three years now. Maybe we ought to, you know, actually try and check one out before repeating the story to the whole world"

Come on be a little understanding - the MSM in Iraq probably can't afford to hire the stringers AND provide them with digital cameras and email access so the stringers could photograph the bodies and send by email to the MSM hiding under the tables in the Green Zone.

I think they just keep finding the corpse of the press' credibility.

Why do we keep hearing about these fake ones but nothing when Michael Yon covers an actuall one?

I'd like to see a tally of fake deaths in Iraq. We might even reach a grim milestone.

Thanks for cluing us in.

Otherwise, I'd never know what xNN reports.

PS your blog program deems the comment "I don't watch xNN" to be "questionable content". I think that's a laff, and you may want to find a different blog program.

Now waitaminnit. There's a new element here.

[The official] said police believe al Qaeda in Iraq left behind the mass grave.

Now if the reporting was that Shi'ia death squads had done the massacre, or Iraqi troops under American leadership, or American troops... it would fit with Teh Narrative. After all, it has been Decided that only Sunni under Saddam's leadership are fit to rule, that American troops (and their protogés) are slack-jawed misfits slathering for opportunities to commit atrocity, and that any attempt by Shi'ia to defend themselves, let alone exact revenge, constitutes Civil War which will Destroy Iraq and embarrass George W. Bush. That Decision has been used by al-Qaeda with uncommon skill to support their propaganda, and vice versa.

Victims of al Qaeda atrocities don't fit. Al Qaeda, being the Good Guys, cannot by definition commit atrocity -- although they may, at times, be sufficiently maddened by the oppression they suffer to become a trifle overzealous (reminding us somewhat of the great and good man, Pol Pot).

But throwing it out to be debunked -- ah, that does fit. It will turn out not to be true, because al Qaeda don't do atrocity. Just ask your friendly neighborhood Press.

Regards,
Ric

But it doesn't say that al Qaeda in Iraq committed the mass-murder, but that the left it behind - so it could still be anybody's guess who actually did it, al Quaeda just came and visited, and they left - they're mysterious you know, it's all behind them now...

I can see how the press could easily have followed Ric's narrative, or CY's. Either way, they don't seem to have latched onto the concept that printing known falsehoods--for whatever reason--is not good for the public's trust in them as news sources.

I hear tell of yet another drowned woman in Ted Kennedy's car. No time to verify it, so I'll just report it here.

Professional journalist's high standard reporting.