Meda'in Reeling

It's an unfortunate reality that the blogosphere is limited, and occasionally crippled, by press coverage of particular events. Recently, it was widely reported by many mainstream outlets that somewhere between 60 and 150 Shia hostages had been taken in the Iraqi town of Meda'in by "Sunni militants". Here's a standard blurb about the supposed situation and the subsequent raid by U.S. and Iraqi forces from the Irish Public Service:

Iraqi and US-led forces are reported to have raided parts of an Iraqi town near Baghdad searching for Shi'ite hostages threatened with death by Sunni rebels.

Shi'ite officials say the rebels who entered the town of Medaen last night are holding up to 150 hostages.

I first heard about the hostage story from Riverbend's post "The Hostage Crisis":

The whole concept of a large number of Sunni guerrillas raiding the town and taking 60 – 150 of its members (including women and children) was bizarre, frightening and by the second day of the rumor, a little bit suspicious.

People in Baghdad didn't believe it. Most of them waved a hand dismissing the report and said, "They just want to raid Medain." It's a town that has been giving the Americans quite a bit of trouble this last year, a part of the Sunni Triangle . Many attacks were reported to have come from the area, but at the same time, it's not like Falloojeh, Samarra, or Mosul- it's half Shia. It wouldn't be as easy or politically correct to raid.

The raid on Meda'in failed to turn up any evidence of the standoff that was described by sources like the BBC and Voice of America (relegated to the sports section, no less). Now, if I remember my U.S. history correctly, it was this kind of thing that led to the Fourth Amendment.

You also may have heard about bodies being recovered from the Tigris near Meda'in. This development was heralded by none other than Jalal Talabani as proof of the militant siege. Curious, I asked Riverbend about the situation; here is her response:

[A] person with the department of health [Ed.: Dr. Falah al-Permani, according to the Times of India] confirmed that all the bodies were well over 3 weeks old, i.e. from before the whole Meda'in crisis. People from the area also insist that there isn't a whole hostage situation between Sunnis and Shia. There were some minor problems between a few of the tribes there and they resulted in a few abductions of both Sunnis and Shia- but not for religious reasons. People there insist it's a fabrication and it was done so that the homes and area could be thoroughly searched.

This is not so much a calling for the removal of U.S. troops from Iraq as it is a comment on the reliance that bloggers have on the mainstream press and the power of propaganda and misinformation on those who cannot be there to see things for themselves.

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