Report: AP fabricated source, Mosque masacre made-up

Did they, or didn't they? That's the question surrounding the Iraqi offices of the Associated Press, where it sounds like they might have made up at least one police officer's name and perhaps fabricated accounts of a horrible scene of death and carnage. The AP has put out a article detailing witness accounts. (Warning: Story contains graphic descriptions)

But this story hasn't become a firestorm among certian bloggers because of what the AP is saying about themselves, it's about what others are saying about the AP. The AP's main source for this particular news story was a "Capt. Jamil Hussein," a man that the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior says is not a Baghdad police officer nor a MOI employee. In other words, the man quoted in the story does not exist, as far as the Iraqi government is concerned. In addition, the American government is denying that it had any operations in the area at the time the article stated, and as such, what the article said happened simply did not.

Who's right? Who's wrong? Is America's main source of news lying about events in the war, or is the government trying to cover-up a terrible violenent event? That's not for TDIN to say. But we can help you to make up your mind on this issue. Below are some suggested sites for continued reading on this complex, troubling scandal.
- AP: Witnesses detail Iraqi burning deaths
- Flopping Aces (Main site that helped break the story)
- Opinion Column: Pro-AP
- Opinion Column: Anti-AP
- Article talking about the whole complicated mess