Richard WarnickMalkin Gets The Real Story - NOT
Right-wing Fox News talking head and blogger Michelle Malkin, as blogged here previously, recently went to Baghdad for four whole days sponsored by the New York Post. She wanted to prove that the Associated Press (AP) reports of sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital two months ago were wrong and based on mere rumor (the AP cited as sources police Captain Jamil Hussein and area residents). Instead, all she could discover was that several Sunni mosques in the Hurriyah section of Baghdad that she says were reported destroyed by AP in a November 24, 2006 story were NOT destroyed, only firebombed and shot up with small arms. Anyway, the Nidaa Allah mosque was already abandoned before it was attacked, and pictures taken by the U.S. Army show that only one side of the dome was blown out– the other side looks OK. Take THAT, AP!
Well, maybe Malkin should have gone back and re-read the original AP story:
Gunmen loyal to radical anti-American Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began taking over the neighborhood this summer and a majority of its Sunni residents already had fled.
The militiamen attacked and burned the Ahbab al-Mustafa, Nidaa Allah, al-Muhaimin and al-Qaqaqa mosques in the rampage that did not end until American forces arrived, Hussein said.
The gunmen attack with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and automatic rifles. Residents said militiamen prevented them from entering burned structures to take away the bodies of victims.
The Shi’ite-dominated police and Iraqi military in the area stood by, both residents and Hussein said.
So, what the news report actually said was that the mosques in Hurriya were attacked with small arms and burned. Also noted is the fact that most Sunnis had already fled the area. Nowhere in the story does it say the mosques were destroyed.
Of course, the over-arching stupidity of Malkin and her cohorts in the right-wing blogosphere is revealed by the belief that if this one AP story could be made to go away, then somehow the Iraqi civil war will go away. Maybe the whole reality-based community will go away and stop bothering them. If only they can disprove just one news story.
UPDATE: Eric Boehlert writes: “I must concede the discipline warbloggers have shown in maintaining their denial in the wake of the crumbling Hussein story is impressive… In the end, the Jamil Hussein fiasco simply highlights the dramatic fall from grace warbloggers have suffered over the last 24 months.”
UPDATE: On January 31, the Associated Press published a follow-up on the four burned and damaged mosques. None of the damage has been repaired, and graffiti was seen on the walls. The neighborhood is under Iraqi Army control and Sunnis are no longer welcome.
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:41 am
What world do you live in that you get to make completely false claims?
The Associated Press did most assuredly claim that these four mosques were “burned and blew up,” and you can read it in their own words in this AP report captured for posterity here:
Further, the Associated Press has completely backed off of their claim that 18 people were killed in the attack on the al-Muhaimin mosque. How do I know? I directly contacted Linda M. Wagner, Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs for the Associated Press, and she refused to back up that claim. She also refused to answer whether or not they stood behind the other accounts sourced to “Jamil Hussein,” a pseudonym for a real Iraqi police officer (and yes, I have his real name through CPATT and the MOI, which is not Hussein), which is a direct breach of AP’s own code of ethics.
As for your contention that “the right-wing blogosphere is revealed by the belief that if this one AP story could be made to go away,” that is a statemetn only made by liberal bloggers. We never believed that.
You go ahead and beleive your fantasy if that makes you happy, but don’t claim that you know the facts.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:59 am
I live in the real world. In the real world, there is a civil war taking place in Iraq and there is sectarian violence every day in Baghdad.
When you fire an RPG at a mosque, that mosque is blown up– half the dome of the Nidaa Allah mosque is “blown out” according to Malkin’s own source, the US Army. The pictures clearly show extensive fire damage. The evidence indicates the AP report is accurate.
Michelle Malkin has often repeated the statement that if she can find something false in this one AP story, then every AP story that cites Jamil Hussein can be questioned and the AP will lose credibility. My point is the right-wing bloggers should worry about their own credibility and refusal to recognize reality.
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:16 pm
It seems Confederate Yankee (Bob Owens) has been quite busy running around to blogs who’ve criticized Malkin’s story. He posted almost the exact same comment on my blog. That’s just desperation.