Report of al Qaeda Takeover of al Qaim: "A Crock"
Reports that al Qaim, an Iraqi city near the Syrian border, have fallen into the hands of al Qaeda forces are "a crock of crap", The Marine Corps Times reports today.
The Washington Post had earlier reported that eye witnesses were claiming that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq flag was flying over the city, that a sign reading "Welcome to The Islamic Kingdom of Qaim" hung over a mosque, and that an accused prostitute had been murdered in the city under harsh new Islamic law.
The Marine Corps, deployed in the area, is now denying those reports.
Maj. Neil Murphy, a spokesman for II Marine Expeditionary Force, told The Marine Corps Times that reports detailing an all-out al-Qaida takeover in Qaim were a “crock of crap.”
“Sure, anyone can hang up a poster. That does not mean anything,” Murphy wrote in an e-mail response to questions. “We have a battalion there. [The insurgents] are continually moving to try and find safety, but we are rooting them out and we’ll root them out of Qaim, too.”
Centcom has made no official statement about the developing situation in al Qaim. However, off-the-record, an official at Centcom was wary of denying these reports to The Jawa Report.
The area in and around al Qaim is a well known route used by al Qaeda terrorists between Syria and Iraq. In recent weeks, Iraqis loyal to the government have been fighting tribes loyal to al Qaeda. The US military has been supporting our allies on the ground in the area through an intense aerial campaign.
Posted by: Rusty at
04:50 PM
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So what else is new. The media is not in Qaim. The media is in their hotels in Bagdad. The media has it's agenda and is phoning in its reports ala Hunter Thompson. And the media no longer has the audience monopoly, credibility or influence it use to have. I wonder why.
Posted by: hondo at September 09, 2005 07:02 PM (4Gtyc)
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hey rusty, why didn't you post the press you got at Instapundit? Is that really you? 20 something? man, put the books down and hit the gym.
Posted by: Mr. K at September 09, 2005 07:44 PM (ztNCV)
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Jenna and Osama got married and live in Qaim dammit!!
Posted by: Downing Street Memo at September 10, 2005 01:22 AM (TAhhF)
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Of course they control Qaim, and I'm the King of Kafiristan!
Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at September 11, 2005 09:05 AM (0yYS2)
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And are the news media ready to print another famous headline DEWY DEFEATS TRUMAN again?
Posted by: sandpiper at September 13, 2005 09:52 AM (ILvmZ)
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I'm John Hoellwarth. I wrote the story about this for Marine Corps Times. I called the Post and talked to a repp at thier Foreign desk who said the paper stands behind their reporters, who only rely on "first-hand observations." He asked me to forward him the e-mail I got from Maj. Murphy and I told him he could just read about it in my paper Monday. But, the funny thing was, he then challenged me to get Maj. Murphy to prove that al-Qaida had not taken the town. He was challenging Maj. Murphy to prove a negative, wholy based on his infexible assumption that his reporter was 100 percent accurate. This reporter, of course, is a credible journlaist who didn't make it to the Post by fabricating stories. On the other hand, Maj. Murphy is the spokesman for the Marines who are operating in that entire region, including Qaim. It is his business to know more than the average reporter about enemy activity in his area. So, here we have two credible sources with completely opposite information. Personally, I think the disconnect comes from the reporter's end. She's reporting from Baghdad with the help of correspondents in places other than Qaim as well. I can't prove that she didn't talk to eye witnesses, but it's hard for me to imagine that she's got better info than the Marines in Qaim's vicinity. Nevertheless, the Post said it remained "Completely confident" in the fact gathering od its reporters.
After gathering all that info and filing my story, I went golfing and forgot about the whole thing. My job rocks.
Posted by: The Notebook Ninja at September 14, 2005 10:49 AM (r/1lb)
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