AP Stands By Story of 6 Iraqis Set on Fire -- Finds More Witnesses

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003439706

<snip>

However, the U.S. military said in a letter to the AP late Monday, three days after the incident, that it had checked with the Iraqi Interior Ministry and was told that no one by the name of Jamil Hussein works for the ministry or as a Baghdad police officer. Lt. Michael B. Dean, a public affairs officer of the U.S. Navy Multi-National Corps-Iraq Joint Operations Center, signed the letter, a text of which was published subsequently on several Internet blogs. The letter also reiterated an earlier statement from the U.S. military that it had been unable to confirm the report of immolation.

<snip>

Rightwing bloggers had ridiculed the AP story, with some suggesting the AP reporter was in league with the insurgents.

<snip>

Seeking further information about Friday's attack, an AP reporter contacted Hussein for a third time about the incident to confirm there was no error. The captain has been a regular source of police information for two years and had been visited by the AP reporter in his office at the police station on several occasions. The captain, who gave his full name as Jamil Gholaiem Hussein, said six people were indeed set on fire.

On Tuesday, two AP reporters also went back to the Hurriyah neighborhood around the Mustafa mosque and found three witnesses who independently gave accounts of the attack. Others in the neighborhood said they were afraid to talk about what happened.

<snip>

Then, the witnesses said, the attackers brought out six men, blindfolded and handcuffed, and lined them up on the street at the gate of the mosque. The witnesses said the six were doused with kerosene from a 1.3-gallon canister and set on fire at intervals, one after the other, with a torch made of rags. The fifth and sixth men in the line were set afire at the same time.

[CoffeeCat]

1. I'm sure Junior will give a full explanation...

...at his next press conference.

We will all be treated to the wondrous and clever propaganda--when Tony Snow tells us
that the Iraqis were not set on fire. That this was just a barbecue picnic gone awry.

Nothing to see here folks!

All is well...remain calm!

[Auntie Bush]

2. What an absolutely sickening thing to do.

Especially because they had to hear what happened to the others and knew they were next. :puke: Wish I hadn't read that just before bed...now I'll probably have nightmares while bush* sleeps soundly in his little bed all covered up nice and snug dreaming of sugar plums dancing in his heartless head. He's RESPONSIBLE for all the carnage going on in Iraq and he will be responsible for all the Millions that will be tortured, raped and murdered during their civil war. I can't think about it anymore so goodnight...I'm out of here.

[Igel]

3. It goes to show how tenuous the information is.

Do you think American or British (or even French) reporters went to Hurriyah?

Perhaps a couple of Iraqi Shi'ite reporters went?

No. These are stringers.

So, who's lying? The ministry of the interior? The stringers?

Dunno.

Of interest is that the original story said that others denied that anybody was set on fire. It also said something like 3 or 4 mosques were attacked, but the DOD said that two of the mosques weren't touched.

It's a question of belief; the facts are poorly ascertainable. AP believes its Iraqi stringers. The bloggers believe the DOD. There's been no shortage of bad information from either.