Fauxtography
An AP photo, supposedly from Iraq, showing a civilian having a bullet removed from her arm. Hmm, let’s count the ways this is a fake.
1. No blood or bruising
2. No visible entry wound
3. The bullet is coming out nose-first. For those who don’t know, bullets GO IN nose first
4. The bullet is intact. This never happens, ever. Bullets are designed to mushroom, or deform in such a way that they greatly increase their diameter as they pass through you, on impact.
5. The doctor’s hands are behind the woman’s arm. If he were removing the bullet from behind, his hands would be pressing directly into this woman’s BULLET WOUND. Some doctor.
6. The woman’s sleeve is merely rolled up and the doctor isn’t wearing surgical gloves. If this were real, she would have removed her shirt and the good doctor wouldn’t be doing this barehanded.
7. No incision. In order to dig the bullet out, an incision would have to be made that was big enough for the doctor to first see the bullet, and then remove it with forceps, not his fingers.
8. The doctor is using his fingers.
9. The woman is probably sitting down, if not standing up. If this were real, she would be lying on an operating table, not sitting in a doctor’s office.
10. Both the doctor and the woman, both supposedly Iraqis, are white.
This post was written by Archimedes on May 16th, 2008.
Comments: 5
Comments
Comment from Brian L.
Time: May 16, 2008, 8:22 am
I’ve forwarded your catch on to some military weaponry experts to see what their take is on this. I’m not totally convinced by the evidence, but would certainly be open to hearing from experts on the matter… My post is over yonder, and I’ll be updating it as I hear back from people. 
Regards,
Brian
Comment from well…
Time: May 16, 2008, 9:55 am
I think your skepticism depends on ignoring the possible types of bullet wounds. You’re right, this doesn’t look like the way we would expect a conventional wound to look. But imagine if it were a shallow-penetration wound by a ricocheted round, or one that had otherwise lost most of its velocity before hitting her arm. Would it seem more possible then? That could explain several of your forensic objections. It might have gone in the same hole that’s it being pulled out of; it might have gone in backwards; it might not have caused massive trauma to the flesh of her arm. Several other objections of yours are dependent on assumptions about Iraqis, e.g., that their medical procedures look just like ours, and that they all are dark skinned (the last of these I know to be false).
What motivation would the AP have for faking this photo? Isn’t the danger of being found out, and the resultant negative publicity, awfully high? I have no doubt it’s easy enough to find a legitimate shooting victim in Iraq if that’s all they wanted. And, query whether, if you were setting out to stage a bullet wound photo to fool the credulous Americans, wouldn’t you tend to include a lot more of those peripheral details like rubber gloves and what not?
I don’t think the breezy confidence with which you declare this a fake is at all warranted.
Comment from Cletus
Time: May 16, 2008, 3:46 pm
well…
Even if it ricocheted or lost velocity there would still be more trauma than we see here, and the bullet probably still wouldn’t be in such perfect shape. And explain to me how a bullet can enter someone backwards? Maybe if it ricochetes, does a 180 in the air and keeps going, but I think that is highly unlikely…
As for why the AP would fake the photograph, who says it was the AP? They use local photographers and journalists (called stringers) who more often than not hold a bias, whatever that bias is. And this would not be the first time something like this happened. Remember the Reuters photos from lebanon? Remember the Qana ambulance strike? Remember the Al-Durah incident? As for including peripheral details, why do you assume every insurgent knows exactly how operating procedures are that they would get rubber gloves? They haven’t put much thought into many other proven fakes; I don’t see why it would be any different here.
This would not be the first time something like this happened.
Comment from Archimedes
Time: May 17, 2008, 12:39 am
Good questions, however, if the bullet ricocheted, it would certainly be deformed. Also, regardless of how much velocity it did or didn’t lose, it would still cause some trauma, as would any solid object violently penetrating the skin. Third, I grant that Iraqi medical procedures may not be the same as those in America, however, the background appears remarkably clean for some backwater medical outfit, as does the doctor’s clothes, shoes, and hands, suggesting a level of professionalism that allows one to assume a corresponding level of medical competency.
Comment from Bert
Time: June 2, 2008, 1:18 am
If AP is so intent on bias, why not show streets littered with body parts from car bombs? The pics are out there but AP does not run them. Does this too demonstrate bias? If it is indeed fake, it is more likely am attempt at a striking and dramatic image than an attempt to purvey bias.
I see no reason to suggest this photo is fake - particularly considering none of us (I assume) have ever actually seen a doctor remove a bullet. Is it “posed” to some extent? Possibly. But all out faked? I doubt it. BTW, if you look at photos of other Iraqi hospitals you’ll notice very few of the doctors wearing gloves.
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