Big Media Photo Editors Apparently Willing To Believe Anything

Ken McCracken • August 15, 2007

Something here doesn’t quite add up:

An elderly Iraqi woman shows two bullets which she says hit her house following an early coalition forces raid in the predominantly Shiite Baghdad suburb of Sadr City. At least 175 people were slaughtered on Tuesday and more than 200 wounded when four suicide truck bombs targeted people from an ancient religious sect in northern Iraq, officials said.(AFP/Wissam al-Okaili)

For those of you not familiar with how bullets work (and I can’t imagine that’s many of you), a spent bullet is missing the tip. There’s no way those bullets were fired at this lady’s home. Someone is lying, and someone else is an ignorant sap for believing the liar.
I just sent an email to AFP to figure out who wrote that caption and how such an egregious error could make it through their editorial filters. I’ll post any response I get.
Update: According to Blackfive, this isn’t the first time this photographer, Wissam al-Okaili, has pulled this stunt.
My question is, why do these obviously staged photos and erroneous captions keep getting through?

Tags: Asshats, Media, Politics, War On Terror

http://Array docdave

Yeah, the unspent bullets displayed are still in their casings. I guess nobody at AFP bothered to check the authenicity of the photo.
markm

I’ve heard that our “killers” overseas have on occasion driven past homes and businesses spraying them with unspent rounds. I guess it’s true. Scary scary stuff.

Keep up the good work AFP.
http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

Had the photographer been interested in the truth and not just spreading propaganda to the weakest of minds, he could have photographed the ends of the cartridges she was holding, which are headstamped as to who made them or where they were made. This would have provided a clue as to where they really came from.
Sample cartridge headstamp.
FlyOnTheWall

You people don’t see the obvious! Bushitler isn’t even giving the troops, he claims to support, rifles to fire the rounds at innocent freedom fighters.

Oh, yeah. Something about jooooooos have to be involved too.

Whelp, back to DemocraticUnderground for a little light, lunchtime reading.
http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

ok, I could be wrong but, if the bullets hit her house the end (casings) would have been left where ever the bullets were fired from and the bullet would be the only thing that would have come near the house

Unless someone threw the cartidges at her house.
http://magyartruth.blogspot.com/ Chief RZ

I have no comment on the “bullet woman” except that “talk TV” is working overtime to create fiction in their attempt to fool people. The question is: are there enough intelligent people left who can discriminate between fact and fiction. Some of my friends prefer fiction over facts in the books they choose.
http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com/ Robert Perry

I sent a note, too. It simply is not forgiveable that either the photog or editor did not know, or did not care about, the difference between unspent rounds and fired bullets.

What does this say? Well, incompetence is a stretch here, so I have to go with malice.
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/Anna/ Anna

Hey come on now guys, those are dangerous and you know it … she could slip on them and really hurt herself
robert108

Those are unfired cartridges; the only way they could have hit her house is if they were thrown at it.
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/Anna/ Anna

ok, I could be wrong but, if the bullets hit her house the end (casings) would have been left where ever the bullets were fired from and the bullet would be the only thing that would have come near the house. Right?
Unless, of course, they were low on weapons and heavy on ammunition and simple resorted to throwing the unspent cartridges as if in a parading event.
Pff.. surely, the photographer, editor or others affiliated with this image are not that naive are they?
FlyOnTheWall

Nieman, being something of an a**hole I stay out of arms reach of people making me a difficult target. Long practice.

“Bushitler” is actually out of vogue in those circles. What I’ve seen recently is ” * ”

I assume what they’re thinking is: “The NSA is searching my emails looking for me using the name ‘Bush’ in any form therefore I will use ‘ * ‘ in place of him who cannot be named. I will then avoid the re-education camps and live happily ever after in Mom’s basement.”

‘ * ‘ has that extra level of paranoid delusion but is more esoteric and I have trouble saying it out loud.

I feel a great need to mock these people. If have a less offensive term but still containing all the mocky goodness, I will consider it. But Bush, the ‘tool of the jews’ being transposed with Hitler is really pretty classic.
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/Anna/ Anna

goon,that is why I mentioned throwing them
;-P
This certainly gives a new meaning to hit by a stray bullet.
Rob’s post was from a Tuesday “slaughter” and the one below is from a Sunday “slaughter”
http://facesofgrief.blogspot.com/2007/08/nineteen_13.html
Neiman

FlyontheWall: Even in humor, or sarcasm, I absolutely despise the term “Bushitler,” and if someone ever dared use that word in my physical presence, they would have my fists in their face. People can disagree with Bush, even call him names; but in jest or even to make a point I find the combination of President Bush and the mass Murderer Adolph Hitler to be so outrageous the person uttering it is in serious need of a good ass kicking!
docdave

But, but, proof, the displayed rounds went thru her house. Displaying the bottom of the rounds would have defeated their story (not that it was credible anyway).
http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

Anna, that looks like the same woman that was popping up all over the places in the Hezballa held territory last summer when the Isralies were kicking some ass…
http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

What do you mean we don’t know who the bullets came from? They were from the guns of imperialist American soldiers. Duh.

Who else would be trying to murder civilians in Iraq?

According to the leftard presidential candidates we are bombing innocent civilians. Kind of reminisciant of the Razing Viliages speech from Lurch during his Failed bid for president.
http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

FlyontheWall: Even in humor, or sarcasm, I absolutely despise the term “Bushitler,” and if someone ever dared use that word in my physical presence, they would have my fists in their face. People can disagree with Bush, even call him names; but in jest or even to make a point I find the combination of President Bush and the mass Murderer Adolph Hitler to be so outrageous the person uttering it is in serious need of a good ass kicking!

Neiman,that is a common reference made to Bush on the Left Wing hate sites. You would have thought that W. was the anti-christ.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

What do you mean we don’t know who the bullets came from? They were from the guns of imperialist American soldiers. Duh.

Who else would be trying to murder civilians in Iraq?

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Big Media Photo Editors Apparently Willing To Believe Anything

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