There have been many words expended lately on the subject of the AP’s reporting of the shenanigans in Iraq.  Since I am of similar ilk to those exposing the AP’s lack of truthiness in some cases, I applaud those who are making the AP cockroaches scatter.  That also means I enjoy the frothings of some of the detractors of this story arc.  Last but not least, I also want to get a few more words in before the bell tolls.

I am interested in the truth, as are most of the people who visit here.  I expect news organizations to do their best to report the truth.  I accept that they will sometimes get the facts wrong, and in those cases, I expect them to correct their errors with due diligance.  Given what has evidently happened with respect to the war reporting coming from Iraq, the news organizations in general and the AP in particular have failed in their task.

The issue isn’t even whether or not Capt. Jamil Hussein exists or is the source for many of the AP stories.  The issue is that the AP has reported time after time inflammatory (pun intended) stories about events in Iraq that apparently did not take place.  Whether their single-sourced stories come from the named individual or they simply made a name up to hide another’s identity, the reporting itself is both sloppy and incredibly damaging.

The false stories are damaging because the word that gets out first is always what people remember.  Many more people “know” that some poor souls were burned alive in a mosque than know that the reported event never occurred.  This information has already been internalized and shapes their view of the situation in Iraq.  The story tends to reinforce a belief that we should leave because we can’t do anything or because the people in question are barbarians who aren’t worth the trouble.

Even if a retraction were forthcoming, it would already be too late.  Once such an atrocity is internalized it’s difficult to counter it.  Furthermore, news organizations tend to de-emphasize retractions anyway, since admitting they made a mistake makes them look bad.  It’s better to pretend that they never screwed up in the first place.  Move on, there’s more new news to report.

I think the reason so many people dismiss the issue when the stories are shown to be incorrect is that the overall truthiness fits their internal narrative.  Fake but accurate.  Sure, nobody got burned alive in the non-existant fire in the mosque, but there was probably a similar atrocity that did not get reported, so overall it’s a wash.  I don’t know for sure if they think that way, but it fits what I’ve seen and heard.

I don’t think the AP have deliberately set out to spread lies.  I don’t cry deception when what they’ve done can be easily attributed to laziness and fear.  Getting firsthand information in Iraq is dangerous, and the urge to use stringers who can be out in the field in relative safety must be immense.  Furthermore, when what the stringers report fits an internal narrative that is consistent with a negative view of Iraq, the person making the decision to run the story is more likely to go with it.

Still, one wonders about how useful such information is.  We know there are bad things happening in Iraq, but we cannot know what is really happening because we cannot trust the reporting.  That is why it is essential that those who are hammering on this story do not let up.  We need to know the truth as closely as possible.  We need the news organizations to be more careful about what they report, and not worry so much about covering their collective asses.  Yeah, I know, “To dream the impossible dream… .”

Mark Twain wrote, “A lie can make it halfway around the world before the truth can even put its boots on.” I can’t think of a better way to summarize what passes for much of the reporting from Iraq.