Testing The Fates: Eason Jordan's Cosmic Irony

We all remember Mr. Jordan, do we not? He was the Baghdad bureau chief for CNN who admitted that he and his colleagues covered up the atrocities of Saddam Hussein. When he addressed a crowd in Davos, Switzerland, he made accusations towards the US military in Iraq. Those accusations included the kidnapping, torturing, and coersion of journalists in Iraq by members of our military. When it was demanded that he present his evidence, or apologize, he refused to do either. After the pressure mounted on him and on CNN, the latter released him.

Now, Eason Jordan is back, and he has joined the blogosphere. His site, IraqSlogger, is currently working on the story regarding Jamil Hussein, and whether or not the man actually exists. Today, thanks to Charles @ Little Green Footballs, we get a glimpse of that irony. Ladies and gentlemen, Eason Jordan has called the AP out in a put up or shut up moment worth noting:

If an Iraqi police captain by the name of Jamil Hussein exists, there is no convincing evidence of it - and that means the Associated Press has a journalistic scandal on its hands that will fester until the AP deals with it properly.

This controversy and the AP’s handling of it call into question the credibility, integrity, and smarts of one of the world’s biggest, most influential, most respected news organizations, the New York-based Associated Press.

The back story: On November 24, the AP quoted Iraqi Police Captain Jamil Hussein as the source of a sensational AP story that began this way:

“Militiamen grabbed six Sunnis as they left Friday worship services, doused them with kerosene and burned them alive as Iraqi soldiers stood by.”

It was a horrific report that was an AP exclusive - a story picked up and reported by news outlets across the U.S. and the world.

The U.S. military and Iraqi officials were quick to call the story baseless, saying there was no evidence that six Sunnis were burned to death in Hurriya and that there was no record of an Iraqi police captain named Jamil Hussein. The U.S. military and the Iraqi government demanded the AP retract the story and explain itself.

The AP fired back with at least three strong statements defending the initial AP report and provided a follow-up report from Baghdad quoting anonymous witnesses as confirming the original immolation story.

In the absence of irrefutable evidence that Captain Hussein exists and that the original AP report was accurate, bloggers and a few mainstream media journalists kept plugging away in an effort to get to the truth about whether there is a Captain Hussein and whether six Sunnis were burned alive that day.

Five weeks after the disputed episode, key questions remain unanswered, but what is clear is the AP has botched its handling of this controversy - and it’s not going away until the AP deals with it forthrightly and transparently.

IraqSlogger’s probe into the case is inconclusive, with conflicting and unconfirmed information regarding whether there’s a Captain Hussein and whether the reported immolation happened. Inquiries by others point to there being no Captain Jamil Hussein, although there is no proof of that.

While proof might yet surface to substantiate the AP’s story - there is circumstantial but unreliable evidence in that regard - conclusive evidence has not yet materialized.

The AP has steadfastly refused to answer questions about this episode from IraqSlogger and other news outlets and bloggers.

In statements, the AP insists Captain Hussein is real, insists he has been known to the AP and others for years, and insists the immolation episode occurred based on multiple eyewitnesses.

But efforts by two governments, several news organizations, and bloggers have failed to produce such evidence or proof that there is a Captain Jamil Hussein.

The AP cannot or will not produce him or convincing evidence of his existence.

Many people would probably yawn at this story, and say "so what? A media outlet has been caught lying." As yet, as Mr. Jordan acknowledges, there is no evidence to substatiate a conclusion either way. What is the point of this investigation is to determine whether or not the AP is lying or not, and if Jamil Hussein exists. The information provided by the AP has not checked out. They have not disclosed where is supposedly stationed, and have flatly refused to provide him to others so he may be questioned.

As of this moment, Jamil Huseein is one of the most sought me in the Middle East, surpassed by Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Adam Gadahn. And we still have no answers. I trust that Mr. Jordan is sincere in his efforts to locate Jamil Hussein. His intentions, as described by Michelle Malkin and Curt @ Flopping Aces, seem to be on the up and up.

The irony comes, of course, from the fact that Eason Jordan was handed the same ultimatum by bloggers, and he refused. Now, he has issued a similar challenge to the AP. Cosmic irony, or hath he learned his lesson?

Marcie