December 10, 2007

Terror Propagandist & AP Photog Bilal Hussein Gets Hearing

AP photographer Bilal Hussein got his day in court. Unsurprisingly, the AP frames the event in such a way as to make him seem completely innocent. Just another victim of the U.S. military.

An Iraqi investigating magistrate on Sunday convened the first criminal hearing in the case of Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, who has been held by the U.S. military without charges for nearly 20 months.

Hussein was present for most of the nearly seven-hour, closed-door proceeding in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq before magistrate Dhia al-Kinani. It was the first time Hussein or his lawyers have seen any of the materials gathered by the U.S. military against him since his arrest in Ramadi on April 12, 2006.

Al-Kinani, however, issued an order that the proceedings and details of the material presented remain secret.

But Uncle Jimbo of Blackfive, blogging at Pajamas Media today, has a different take:

Hussein was in his house with Hamid Hamad Motib, a known al-Qaeda leader, last year when Marines wanted to use the house as an observation point. They determined Motib’s identity and status as a wanted terrorist and took both him and Hussein into custody. They also recovered a number of items that led them to believe that Hussein was involved in insurgent activities.....

[The military] noted ongoing reports coming out of Fallujah that did not match the reality they were aware of. Stories of children and civilians being killed would come out, but in areas where the Marines had not conducted operations. Many of these stories featured pictures and reporting from Hussein and quotes from the same two doctors at Fallujah Hospital. During this period of time Fallujah was controlled almost completely by al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents. Anyone doing anything was subject to their approval.

Bilal Hussein had free reign to be anywhere and was often taking pictures in the company of insurgents and terrorists. He and the other stringers who made up AP’s Pulitzer Prize winning photo team managed to capture assassinations as they happened. They were on site at bombings within seconds to capture the carnage almost as it happened. [read the rest]

And all those obviously photos in which al Qaeda members posed for Hussein? He claims he was just lucky.

So, it was just bad luck that an al Qaeda leader was in his house.....and just good luck that he happened to be in the right place at the right time when al Qaeda would attack.

Sounds to me like luck plays a big factor in Bilal Hussein's life.

Michelle Malkin has more.