For weeks, the biggest story among many of the top conservative blogs was an AP source in Iraq named Jamil Hussein, and whether or not he exists (far-right bloggers have insisted he does not). Unfortunately for them, Developments in Iraq yesterday were rather embarrassing.
As reported elsewhere on this late this afternoon, Iraq’s Interior Ministry acknowledged Thursday that an Iraqi police officer whose existence had been denied by the Iraqis and the U.S. military — and mocked by conservative bloggers in the U.S. — 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 — and as AP has reiterated over the past month in lengthy statements and in interviews with E&P (most recently on Wednesday).
Oops.
The “controversy” began in earnest in November when the AP reported an incident in which Shiite militiamen dragged six worshippers from a Sunni mosque, doused them with kerosene, and set them on fire. Far-right blogs questioned the validity of the story, and said the AP relied upon a fabricated source. (The AP stood behind the story.)
From there, Capt. Jamil Hussein’s existence became something of a cottage industry for conservative blogs. The story was the linchpin to a broader argument — the media is exaggerating conditions in Iraq, and the AP’s reporting should be considered suspect and politically motivated.
Alas, they were wrong. Ministry spokesman Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, who had denied there was any such police employee as Jamil Hussein, said yesterday that he’s real and is an officer assigned to the Khadra police station, just as the AP had said.
How’d the blogs respond to the new revelations? Not well.
As recently as yesterday, Michelle Malkin, the best-known blog critic of Hussein’s existence, stated flatly “the fact that there is no police captain named ‘Jamil Hussein’ working now or ever in either Yarmouk or al Khadra, according to on-the-ground sources in Baghdad. Late this afternoon, she posted part of the AP dispatch about the turn of events, with the comment, “Checking it out. Moving forward….”
She later sent a note to the blog of another Hussein doubter, Allahpundit, stating, “Just to clarify, I’m not apologizing for anything.”
Allahpundit, blogging at Hot Air, admitted, “She and we were wrong about Jamil Hussein. Whether we’re wrong about the rest of it, too, we’ll see. Apologies, though, to the HA readers for having led you on a bit of a wild goose chase, however well founded and well intended our suspicions were.”
But Patterico at Patterico’s Pontifications replied, “I see Allah is apologizing tonight for taking his readers on a wild goose chase. But I don’t think he’s done anything to apologize for.”
Dan Riehl, another blogging Hussein doubter, responded today, “Fascinating. But let me be the first to say to the Left, before they lose themselves in glee, I don’t see that bloggers have anything to apologize for, nor do I see this story being at an end.” He and others now promise to check out Hussein’s record as a source — now that they have to admit that he actually exists.
The last month hasn’t been kind to the far-right blogosphere. First there was Cliff May’s email from a Marine, which conservatives jumped all over, which turned out to be wrong. Then there was a picture of Kerry in Iraq that was “proof” that the troops resented him, which also turned out to be wrong. And now there’s Capt. Jamil Hussein.
Better luck in ’07, guys.