You would have to believe that the AP could produce him,
but just doesn't want to do so. They choose instead to
suffer indignities and injuries to their credibility from
not only a "mad blog rabble", but also questions and
arched eyebrows from their colleagues in the mainstream
press. They could, of course, merely arrange an
introduction: "CENTCOM, MOI, this is "Capt. Jamil Hussein";
Capt. Hussein, these are your employers." And photograph
it. Or just let CENTCOM say they are satisfied.
You would have to believe that CENTCOM and the Iraqi MOI
are lying about this man for no good reason. Or perhaps
that they are retaliating against him this way, instead of
just firing him, as they could do...since he really does
work for them, right? They could arrest and question him,
and fire him, but instead these agencies make up an
elaborate charade in which they deny he exists...knowing
full well the AP could retaliate at any time and embarrass
the hell out of them just by producing him and proving
he's real.
Arguing in the Alternative: What You Would Have To Believe To Believe The AP
by SeeDubya
JunkYardBlog
Let's say for a minute I'm wrong. It's possible. In fact it happens a lot. So let's say I'm wrong about the AP's mysterious source, "Capt. Jamil Hussein", and he really does exist and regularly talks to the AP.
For the purposes of argument, then, it's not only me that's wrong. It's also CENTCOM, and the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, both of whom say that "Capt. Jamil Hussein" isn't a police officer. They either lost him in a bureaucratic miscue, or they're lying.
Possibly. But when you think about it, you would have to believe a lot to believe a lot of things to believe that. This is going to be a long post, because there's a lot you would have to believe.
You would have to believe this Hussein fellow has been working for the MOI since 2004 at least, but he's just not drawing a paycheck. After all, the simplest check in the world for an employee like "Capt. Jamil Hussein" is to check with payroll. Does this man earn a salary? Nope. At least not for the MOI. (More about this in a minute.)
Yet, one must believe, the man comes to work every day and sits in an office where he occasionally meets with AP reporters. That's real dedication to do such dangerous work gratis. Although one wonders how "Captain Jamil Hussein" eats. If the MOI doesn't pay his salary, who does? Not the AP. They make it a point of pride that they do not pay sources.
You would have to believe that "Capt. Jamil Hussein" has some very pressing reason for communicating this information to the AP--something worth risking his job for, and drawing the attention of militants around the city. After all, the Iraqi MOI has said for months now that no one under the rank of chief may speak with the press, but "Captain Jamil Hussein" has forged ahead at substantial risk of getting fired or arrested. Why would he risk his job telling the AP about events he's not authorized to tell? Most people leak to advance their career--not to shoot themselves in the foot. If he's real, and that the AP doesn't pay its sources, well, why is he doing this? Just to feel important? Is he Qais al-Bashir's brother in law?
You would have to believe that he has some inside knowledge about murders not only in his own neighborhoods (eg al-Yarmouk and now al-Khadra) but also about muders all over Baghdad. He has been quoted as talking about murders in Sadr City (formerly Saddam City, in northeastern Baghdad), in Dora (or Dawra, in southeastern Baghdad), and in Mansour and Hurriya (western Baghdad.) Maybe there is some internal police wire he is reading from. He's certainly not an eyewitness to or investigating all these himself, all over town--61 incidents he's spoken on authoritatively, according to Flopping Aces' Lexis-Nexis research.
You would have to believe that his inside knowledge is quite fallible, since he was the original source of the "four burning mosques in Hurriya" story that the AP has since implicitly dialed back to "one".
You would have to believe that the AP could produce him, but just doesn't want to do so. They choose instead to suffer indignities and injuries to their credibility from not only a "mad blog rabble", but also questions and arched eyebrows from their colleagues in the mainstream press. They could, of course, merely arrange an introduction: "CENTCOM, MOI, this is "Capt. Jamil Hussein"; Capt. Hussein, these are your employers." And photograph it. Or just let CENTCOM say they are satisfied.
You would have to believe that CENTCOM and the Iraqi MOI are lying about this man for no good reason. Or perhaps that they are retaliating against him this way, instead of just firing him, as they could do...since he really does work for them, right? They could arrest and question him, and fire him, but instead these agencies make up an elaborate charade in which they deny he exists...knowing full well the AP could retaliate at any time and embarrass the hell out of them just by producing him and proving he's real.
You would have to believe that the Hurriya burning story is worth CENTCOM risking its credibility. (I think it's a significant story, and it was quoted in the MSNBC decision to brand Iraq in a state of civil war, but it's hardly Abu Ghraib. It's one more incident of hideous violence in a hideously violent country.) You would have to believe that CENTCOM's media affairs unit--the military unit in Iraq concerned with working with the media and getting the American point of view told worldwide--deliberately chose to piss off the Associated Press about this issue. You could believe, although you don't have to, that a media relations company called "The Lincoln Group" seeded this story among conservative bloggers in order to discredit the AP, or something. You can accordingly believe that I can now take you for a ride in my new Lotus over to Curt's Beverly Hills mansion.
Alternatively, you would have to believe that CENTCOM's and the MOI's investigations were so perfunctory that they couldn't ascertain the truth of "Capt. Jamil Hussein's" employment. That CENTCOM's media relations people were willing to piss off the AP--a critical source of worldwide news--over a shoddy, half@ssed investigation into whether or not one guy works at a particular police station and has worked for the MOI since at least 2004. You would have to believe that CENTCOM:
I. Could have checked with payroll, but they didn't. Except that they say they did. As a Maj. Jeff Pool notes in an e-mail to Patterico, "The Iraqi MOI keeps accurate listings of verified police officers, for pay purposes." So you would have to believe Major Jeff Pool is lying about that, or...that there was a misunderstanding over Capt. Jamil Hussein's name and it was one of those Arabic names with parts you use sometimes and sometimes you don't, which the Iraqi MOI couldn't figure out. They didn't bother to check, for example, alternatives like (for example) "Jamil Hussein al-Basrah". In other words, you have to believe that CENTCOM and the Iraqi MOI read down the "accurate list of verified police officers" looking for captains in Yarmouk and al-Khadra and said, "Hmmm....Here's a Capt. Jamil Hussein al-Basrah who works at al-Khadra police HQ. Could this be the same guy?" "Nahhhh...." Besides, AP gave his full name as "Jamil Gholaiem Hussein", way back on Nov. 28th, and there has been plenty of time to check that fact and correct that error, if there was one. Instead, both sides have doubled down.
II. Could have picked up the phone and said, hey, Jamil there? But they didn't. They could have called Yarmouk and said, was there a guy who worked there named "Capt. Jamil Hussein"? They could have gone down and stuck their head in the office (AP says he has an office) at al-Khadra with "Captain Jamil Hussein" on the nameplate and said "Doctor Watson, I presume?"
But no, you'd have to believe they did none of these things and preferred instead to initiate an existential conflict with a worldwide media organization whose amity they depend on to do their jobs. Over a modestly important story. Which, one must believe, the AP got right, and CENTCOM knew it, and decided to go ahead anyway, knowing they could get burned.
MY TAKE ON THIS is that there are simpler explanations that don't require one to believe all these odd things. Some of the possibilities include:
I. Capt. Hussein is real, and he is paid for his cooperation in violation of AP Guidelines--though this only dispels one of the objections;
II. Capt. Hussein is a composite figure combining a series of police sources, or a pseudonym, also in violation of AP guidelines, which reporters are loath to admit;
III. Capt. Hussein is an impostor, probably with insurgent ties, who has duped AP stringers and writers into believing he is a real Baghdad police officer;
IV. Capt. Hussein is another sort of impostor, a Saddam-era policeman who still has his uniform (and possibly ties to the old regime) but was never re-hired by the MOI after the war;
V. Capt. Hussein is a figment of a lazy reporter's imagination--or if not a lazy one, one with an agenda all too close to that of the insurgents.
None of this proves either way whether "Capt. Jamil Hussein" is real or a phantom. But it shows that the questions of the "Mad Blog Rabble" aren't that unreasonable compared with what the AP is selling, and that they deserve a serious response from the AP, not simply scorn and derision. This may have escaped the high-and-mighty Ms. Carroll, but we are customers--very discerning customers--of the AP's services. And we are dissatisfied. What will the AP do about it?
P.S. Incidentally, AP had a little inaccuracy here about where exactly "Capt. Jamil Hussein" works. On November 28th, AP International Editor John Daniszewski issued two statements condemning the questioners. One is here at USA Today's On Deadline:
<<< He is an officer at the police station in Yarmouk, with a record of reliability and truthfulness. His full name is Jamil Gholaiem Hussein. >>>
And here is another, on AP's site (scroll down to the 11-28 item):
<<< He has been based at the police station at Yarmouk, and more recently at al-Khadra, another Baghdad district, and has been interviewed by the AP several times at his office and by telephone. His full name is Jamil Gholaiem Hussein. >>>
He's hard to pin down, isn't he?
UPDATE: Confederate Yankee calls it "Faith Based Reporting".
confederateyankee.mu.nu
It looks like I've just drawn up the catechism here. Also see: Michelle.
michellemalkin.com
All other relevant links found here
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