Comments on: Deja Vu?

By: Tbird

Tbird — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 19:33:33 +0000

Earlier this week there was a report of the taliban attempting to use a 6 year old boy as a suicide bomber. The AP was careful to point out that the claim “could not be substantiated” even though there were several people who claimed to be eye-witnesses. There is nothing wrong with AP being sceptical but it would seem that they practice selective scepticism.
Should an F-16 pilot drop a thousand pounder on the most desolate spot in Afghanistan, totally devoid of plant and animal life, and the Taliban reported that the air strike had killed ten women, thirty children, five baby ducks, destroyed a baby formula factor, a hospital, three schools, and half a dozen mosques, AP would probably publish it as fact-no questions asked.

By: Greg in Texas

Greg in Texas — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 18:36:34 +0000

There’s a surprise. AP falling for a jihadi story hook, line and sinker…

By: Bob Owens

Bob Owens — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:15:24 +0000

Scott,

You did indeed misread that, but no big deal. Kut (where one officer reported from) is 100 miles from Baghdad. Baghdad’s outskirts are about 12 miles from Salman Pak, so the officer in Baghdad was probably more like 15 miles away if reporting from near the city center.

U.S. forces have been there for quite a while in a training role for the local station of Iraqi National police. Without doing more than a few seconds of Googling, I found a MNF-I account about how those U.S. advisors called in AH-64 support against insurgent forces firing on the police station with small arms and mortars May 9. The Apache gunship made short work of their vehicle, and two of the insurgents.

By: Scott Malensek

Scott Malensek — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 13:19:18 +0000

Maybe I misread, but Salman Pak isn’t 100 miles from Baghdad (where reporters hide), and US troops just went in there the other day for the first time in 2 yrs. You’d think they’d have seen it or been able to confirm it.