Rightwing witch-hunt gets Iraqi source arrested [VIDEO]

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 8:17 AM on January 5, 2007.

Here's an object lesson that isn't likely to be heeded.

Suspicious of an AP story unflattering to the U.S. and Iraqi government (and goaded by a Centcomm press release and American & Iraqi officials who had everything to gain by undermining the legitimacy of the story) several right-wingers set out to locate the source, listed as "Jamil Hussein." They looked back and LO!! he'd been a source numerous times.

These geniuses figured out how a reporter becomes a reporter.

Former CNN bigwig Eason Jordan and his IraqSlogger blog hopped on the SS Malkin, posting a piece under the INVESTIGATION headline: "Captain Jamil Hussein: Fact or Fiction?"

Top notch way to soil your new project.

Fox's Brit Hume enlisted too (video upper right) as much of the right wing blogosphere pushed the idea relentlessly.

But... AP's source was finally revealed yesterday:

The Interior Ministry acknowledged Thursday that an Iraqi police officer whose existence had been denied by the Iraqis and the U.S. military is in fact an active member of the force, and said he now faces arrest for speaking to the media.

Ministry spokesman Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, who had previously denied there was any such police employee as Capt. Jamil Hussein, said in an interview that Hussein is an officer assigned to the Khadra police station, as had been reported by The Associated Press.

Whoops.

Not only that but he's going to be arrested for...

... talking to reporters. All because these folks couldn't handle the reality of the bad news in Iraq. If countless lives weren't being sacrificed on the altar of their remarkable inability to acknowledge the facts, this would be fascinating.

They wanted to believe in the fiction of an evil newsmedia out to spoil the good news so badly they actually pushed it as far as the arrest of an Iraqi trying to assist in the free flow of information.

The most ironic part of it for me, is this suggestion that the Saddam era is creeping back in:

[Jamil] Hussein appears to have fallen afoul of a new Iraqi push, encouraged by some U.S. advisers, to more closely monitor the flow of information about the country's violence, and strictly enforce regulations that bar all but authorized spokesmen from talking to media.

During Saddam Hussein's rule, information in Iraq had been fiercely controlled by the Information Ministry, but after the arrival of U.S. troops in 2003 and during the transition to an elected government in 2004, many police such as Hussein felt freer to talk to journalists and give information as it occurred.

We'll see who's contrite and who's not. Thus far, Admiral Malkin, who blogged about Jamil Hussein dozens of times, had this to say: "Checking it out. Moving forward..." (she's going to Iraq -- most likely to take in the restaurants and discos of the Green Zone).

This was followed, according to E&P, by a note to her co-blogger at, um, Hot Air (who did partially apologize), reading: "Just to clarify, I’m not apologizing for anything." The right wing reactions she quotes don't express regret at having made a serious error in judgment ending in the arrest of an Iraqi. Far from it.

In fact, she closes with a Hitchens quote about how Iraqi police officers are dangerous fascists.

This not-too-subtle jujitsu paints the freedom and truth-seeking actions of an Iraqi (whose truth happens to strike at their cherished fantasy) as a dangerous fascist.

I believe that paints an accurate picture of their fantasy world.

Tagged as: media, iraq, fox, right wing

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of blogs.