Newsweek Blinks: Afghan Mullahs Call For Holy War On Koran Desecration

[Nbadan]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newsweek magazine on Sunday said it may have erred in a May 9 report that said U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, and apologized to victims of deadly violence sparked by the article.

The weekly news magazine said in its May 23 edition that the original source of the allegation was not sure where he saw the assertion that at least one copy of the Koran was flushed down a toilet in an attempt to get detainees to talk.

"We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst," Editor Mark Whitaker wrote in the magazine's latest issue, due to appear on U.S. newsstands on Monday.



Geez, you would think that Newsweek would check their sources before making such inflammitory statements in their mag. Especially since the insueing violence had led to the death of hunreds and a call to holy war by 300 Afghan mullahs...


Afghan clerics threaten Muslim holy war over Koran

A group of Afghan Muslim clerics threatened on Sunday to call for a holy war against the United States if it fails to hand over in three days military interrogators reported to have desecrated the Koran.

The warning came after 16 Afghans were killed and more than 100 hurt last week in the worst anti-U.S. protests across the country since U.S. forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

The clerics in the northeastern province of Badakhshan said they wanted President Bush to handle the matter honestly "and hand the culprits over to an Islamic country for punishment."

"If that does not happen within three days, we will launch a jihad against America," said a statement issued by about 300 clerics, referring to Muslim holy war, after meeting in a mosque in the provincial capital, Faizabad.
-snip-

[url=http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8493293]Reuters (]Newsweek[/url)

[The Ressurrected One]

Geez, you would think that Newsweek would check their sources before making such inflammitory statements in their mag. Especially since the insueing violence had led to the death of hunreds and a call to holy war by 300 Afghan mullahs...



[url=http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8493293]Reuters (]Newsweek[/url)

If it makes Bush or the U.S. look bad or suffer, the media is all for putting it out...unchecked.

It's only when the Liberal Left gets busted that they want five witnesses, signed affidavits and a confession before they'll believe or report.

[Nbadan]

If it makes Bush or the U.S. look bad or suffer, the media is all for putting it out...unchecked.

*cough*Matt Drudge*cough*

[Spurminator]

I fear this will severely damage America's faith in Freedom of the Press.

Idiots. I hope they're hit with a fatal wave of subscription cancellations.

[2centsworth]

*cough*Matt Drudge*cough*

Yeah, Drudge causes riots.:rolleyes

[The Ressurrected One]

Muslims skeptical over Newsweek back-track on Koran (http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050516/2005-05-16T125637Z_01_ISL165639_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-RELIGION-AFGHAN-PAKISTAN-DC.html)

http://us.news3.yimg.com/img.news.yahoo.com/util/anysize/380,http%3A%2F%2Fus.news2.yimg.com%2Fus.yimg.com%2 Fp%2Fafp%2F20050515%2Fcapt.sge.ppz73.150505193830. photo00.photo.default-380x264.jpg

I'm truly surprised more Americans aren't incensed over Newsweek's irresponsibility. This is the CBS memos with 15 people killed! And, it could still get worse...

Newsweek's nonretraction-retraction is going to continue to cause problems and is just as bad as CBS's nonretraction-retraction in the Rather story, except this one is dangerous. They should have said that they retract the story because they do not have any reason to know that it is true. The press are not in the business of reporting what might be true, what could be true if only they know more. The press are in the business of reporting what they know is true. Aren't they?

This Isikoff has singlehandedly turned US triumph in Afghanistan into a total disaster. Now, thanks to one Bush-hating reporter (google Isikoff if you doubt his intentions,) the recidivist Taliban-Pathans of southeast Afghanistan once again have an issue to de-legitimize the Karzai-U.S. alliance.

Really, I don't want to hear another word about the superior "responsibility" of Big Media. Not one more word.

This is America, and we all have freedom of speech, and nobody will riot in front of the offices of Time, Newsweek, or Penguin publishers over this new outrage. So cash your checks with pride, Viv. You too, Eric. The prisoners in Guantanamo may or may not get over the shame of being teased by women in thongs, but 15 Afghanis are certainly and permanently dead.

This latest journalistic train wreck is just ugly. Dead Afghanis, calls for jihad, threats of more violence, Islamists rejecting the Newsweek retraction… This can still get worse, and there will be no laughs in this one.

Thanks Isikoff...due to your irresponsible reporting (born of a desire to embarrass and discredit the Bush administration and undermine the President's foreign policy) Americans abroad have just another reason to look over their shoulders while walking down the street.

I think the only way to rectify this is to put Isikoff on assignment in the rat-infested terrorist hellholes of Iraq and wait for his orange jumpsuit video to be released. Prick.

[Extra Stout]

Isikoff is a traitor.

[The Ressurrected One]

Isikoff is a traitor.
Why don't we put him in a Gitmo cell between two of the most rabid terrorists with only a Koran for reading and wiping.

[bigzak25]

"If that does not happen within three days, we will launch a jihad against America,"


get in line.


can we not turnover some of the idiots that let this kind of story out in the 1st place.

[Medvedenko]

This reaction just shows you how far they are from being "democratic" or ever will be....I flush the bible down the toilet..what's going to happen...nothing. I do realize that what has transpired is despicable but killing and murdering in the visage of God goes against the purpose of the Koran or Bible for that matter.

[The Ressurrected One]

This reaction just shows you how far they are from being "democratic" or ever will be....I flush the bible down the toilet..what's going to happen...nothing. I do realize that what has transpired is despicable but killing and murdering in the visage of God goes against the purpose of the Koran or Bible for that matter.
I'm sorry, your argument doesn't wash.

The Japanese were similarly devoted to the Emperor before Nagasaki and Hiroshima were vaporized. And, even then, it took the Emporer himself shedding his deification before the Japanese started to come around...

Hard? Sure. Impossible? Obviously not. And that was only 60 years ago.

[Medvedenko]

Well...before we depict the Middle East as the next great economic power house....
I don't really think the Muslim's "coming around" after a few well placed bombs will spur them into pro-american rallies. This is all based on Religion and nothing more....the Japanese prior and after WW2 still have their faith based dogma very well intact. Can Iraq attain this....sure they can...but before you assume that it's easy talk with someone from that region.

[The Ressurrected One]

Well...before we depict the Middle East as the next great economic power house....
I don't really think the Muslim's "coming around" after a few well placed bombs will spur them into pro-american rallies. This is all based on Religion and nothing more....the Japanese prior and after WW2 still have their faith based dogma very well intact. Can Iraq attain this....sure they can...but before you assume that it's easy talk with someone from that region.
It was deemed impossible in 1944 Japan.

[Medvedenko]

Hey "RO" what the fuck don't you understand by my post....

[The Ressurrected One]

Hey "RO" what the fuck don't you understand by my post....
I understand your post fine.

[Nbadan]

(From BBC)

Hardline Islamic parties in Pakistan say an apology by a US magazine over a story about a desecration of the Koran is a crude bid to ease Muslim anger.

Newsweek said US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet. It now says it erred in reporting the story.

But White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the decision not to issue a full retraction was "puzzling".
snip---

"There have been reports by the prisoners who have been released from Guantanamo Bay of desecration of the holy Koran, and different atrocities perpetrated on them. Therefore, the clarification of Newsweek has no meaning."

BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4553015.stm)

[The Ressurrected One]

BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4553015.stm)
I'm sure there's a point in there somewhere...

Care to share?

[Nbadan]

I'm sure there's a point in there somewhere...

Care to share?

Seems to me that these claims have been substantiated and resubstantiated. Maybe there are different reasons for the Newsweek retraction.

[Bandit2981]

Seems to me that these claims have been substantiated and resubstantiated. Maybe there are different reasons for the Newsweek retraction.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/05/198_rove.jpg
"This Nbadan fellow seems to know too much...I'll take care of it"
:spin

[The Ressurrected One]

Seems to me that these claims have been substantiated and resubstantiated. Maybe there are different reasons for the Newsweek retraction.
Care to share the credible source of these substantiated and resubstantiated claims of Koran flushing?

[The Ressurrected One]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/05/198_rove.jpg
"This Nbadan fellow seems to know too much...I'll take care of it"
:spin
Yeah, this Nbadan fellow seems to know stuff of which no one else on earth is aware...including those reportedly involved.

[E20]

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Media_Watch

[NeoConIV]

Either way, the damage is done. MSM is such a fucking mess. They REALLY need to get their fucking shit together.

[The Ressurrected One]

Sorry, I missed addressing this little bit of "corroborating" evidence in your post:

"There have been reports by the prisoners who have been released from Guantanamo Bay of desecration of the holy Koran, and different atrocities perpetrated on them. Therefore, the clarification of Newsweek has no meaning."
I've heard that Gitmo detainees are coordinating their stories of abuse so they seem more credible if and when released...

It happens in Prisons here all the time. Don't like a particular prison guard, get a couple of dozen prisoners to start spreading rumors of corruption or malfeasance.

It's an old ploy.

[Clandestino]

pretty soon the gitmo detainess will be placing liens on homes

[NeoConIV]

Sorry, I missed addressing this little bit of "corroborating" evidence in your post:

I've heard that Gitmo detainees are coordinating their stories of abuse so they seem more credible if and when released...

It happens in Prisons here all the time. Don't like a particular prison guard, get a couple of dozen prisoners to start spreading rumors of corruption or malfeasance.

It's an old ploy.
Yep, no brainer. But leave to the leftists to lap it up, hook, line, and sinker.

[Nbadan]

Sorry, I missed addressing this little bit of "corroborating" evidence in your post:

I've heard that Gitmo detainees are coordinating their stories of abuse so they seem more credible if and when released...

It happens in Prisons here all the time. Don't like a particular prison guard, get a couple of dozen prisoners to start spreading rumors of corruption or malfeasance.

It's an old ploy.

See, that just it, unless someone in the American SS, or intelligence agencies breaks rank and start spilling the beans the only people talking about this are the former detainees, and their stories have been spread across a wide spectrum of foreign press..

Yorkshire Post, November 1, 2004 | Tipton Three turn on the trauma for £22m... injected with "unknown substances", and had their Korans thrown into the toilets.

DAILY MAIL (London), October 28, 2004, ED_3RD; Pg. 1; Pg. 2, TIPTON THREE SUE FOR Pounds 22M, DUNCAN GARDHAM... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

DAILY MAIL (London), October 28, 2004, ED_3RD; Pg. 1; Pg. 2, TIPTON THREE SUE FOR Pounds 22M, DUNCAN GARDHAM... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

The Express, October 28, 2004, U.K. 3rd Edition; NEWS; Pg. 4, GUANTANAMO BRITONS WILL SUE US FOR £22M, By Lianne Kolirin... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

Irish News, October 28, 2004, Pg. 26, British men detained at Guantanamo sue US government for rights abuses;... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

Press Association, October 27, 2004, Wednesday, HOME NEWS, GUANTANAMO BRITONS SUE US GOVERNMENT, Mark Sage, PA News, in New York... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

Belfast Telegraph, August 5, 2004, Father demands release of his British son after claims of torture at Guantanamo Bay, By Andrew Buncombe in Washington... allegedly threw prisoners' Korans into toilets, while others were injected with ...

Birmingham Post, August 5, 2004, Thursday, First Edition; NEWS; Pg. 2, TIPTON TRIO CLAIM THEY WERE TORTURED BY ALLIES, EMMA PINCH A detainee is led by military police to be interrogated by military officials at Camp X-Ray at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul... Guards would throw prisoners' Korans into the toilet 'as part of their clear policy to ...

Federal News Service, August 5, 2004 Thursday, PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT - RELEASED GUANTANAMO DETAINEES ALLEGE ABUSE (ABC RADIO, AUSTRALIA, 08:25 (GMT+11) AUGUST 05, 2004)... guards would throw detainees' Korans down the toilet and shave them, to try to get them to ...

IPR Strategic Business Information Database, June 28, 2004, THEY ALLEGE ABUSE BY U.S. CAPTORS... at Guantanamo. "They tore the Koran to pieces in front of us, threw it into the toilet," Vakhitov said.

BBC Monitoring International Reports, June 26, 2004, RUSSIAN TV INTERVIEWS FREED GUANTANAMO PRISONERS... bucket instead of a toilet. People were in cells, ... ... floor. (Vahitov) They tore the Koran to pieces in front of us, threw it into the toilet.

The Observer, March 14, 2004, Observer News Pages, Pg. 5, 5420 words, World Exclusive: Inside Guantanamo: How we survived jail hell: For two years the Tipton Three have been silent prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Now, in this remarkable interview with David Rose, they describe for the first time the extraordinary story of their journey from the West Midlands to Camp Delta, David Rose... ... sleeping tents, copies of the Koran would be trampled on by ... ... occasion, thrown into a toilet bucket.

This isn't any colleberated effort as TRO would like us to believe. When enough people say the same thing you have to believe that there is some truth to it. Remember that these are the same people who at first denied that there was any prisoner abuse going on a Guantano bay and Abu Gharib until pictures taken at the prisons showed otherwise.

Who you gonna believe now? Sources who have deceived you before?

[NeoConIV]

See, that just it, unless someone in the American SS, or intelligence agencies breaks rank and start spilling the beans the only people talking about this are the former detainees, and their stories have been spread across a wide spectrum of foreign press..

Yorkshire Post, November 1, 2004 | Tipton Three turn on the trauma for £22m... injected with "unknown substances", and had their Korans thrown into the toilets.

DAILY MAIL (London), October 28, 2004, ED_3RD; Pg. 1; Pg. 2, TIPTON THREE SUE FOR Pounds 22M, DUNCAN GARDHAM... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

DAILY MAIL (London), October 28, 2004, ED_3RD; Pg. 1; Pg. 2, TIPTON THREE SUE FOR Pounds 22M, DUNCAN GARDHAM... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

The Express, October 28, 2004, U.K. 3rd Edition; NEWS; Pg. 4, GUANTANAMO BRITONS WILL SUE US FOR £22M, By Lianne Kolirin... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

Irish News, October 28, 2004, Pg. 26, British men detained at Guantanamo sue US government for rights abuses;... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

Press Association, October 27, 2004, Wednesday, HOME NEWS, GUANTANAMO BRITONS SUE US GOVERNMENT, Mark Sage, PA News, in New York... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

Belfast Telegraph, August 5, 2004, Father demands release of his British son after claims of torture at Guantanamo Bay, By Andrew Buncombe in Washington... allegedly threw prisoners' Korans into toilets, while others were injected with ...

Birmingham Post, August 5, 2004, Thursday, First Edition; NEWS; Pg. 2, TIPTON TRIO CLAIM THEY WERE TORTURED BY ALLIES, EMMA PINCH A detainee is led by military police to be interrogated by military officials at Camp X-Ray at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul... Guards would throw prisoners' Korans into the toilet 'as part of their clear policy to ...

Federal News Service, August 5, 2004 Thursday, PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT - RELEASED GUANTANAMO DETAINEES ALLEGE ABUSE (ABC RADIO, AUSTRALIA, 08:25 (GMT+11) AUGUST 05, 2004)... guards would throw detainees' Korans down the toilet and shave them, to try to get them to ...

IPR Strategic Business Information Database, June 28, 2004, THEY ALLEGE ABUSE BY U.S. CAPTORS... at Guantanamo. "They tore the Koran to pieces in front of us, threw it into the toilet," Vakhitov said.

BBC Monitoring International Reports, June 26, 2004, RUSSIAN TV INTERVIEWS FREED GUANTANAMO PRISONERS... bucket instead of a toilet. People were in cells, ... ... floor. (Vahitov) They tore the Koran to pieces in front of us, threw it into the toilet.

The Observer, March 14, 2004, Observer News Pages, Pg. 5, 5420 words, World Exclusive: Inside Guantanamo: How we survived jail hell: For two years the Tipton Three have been silent prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Now, in this remarkable interview with David Rose, they describe for the first time the extraordinary story of their journey from the West Midlands to Camp Delta, David Rose... ... sleeping tents, copies of the Koran would be trampled on by ... ... occasion, thrown into a toilet bucket.

This isn't any colleberated effort as TRO would like us to believe. When enough people say the same thing you have to believe that there is some truth to it. Remember that these are the same people who at first denied that there was any prisoner abuse going on a Guantano bay and Abu Gharib until pictures taken at the prisons showed otherwise.

Who you gonna believe now? Sources who have deceived you before?


Links? Looks like you've got some snippets that look carefully edited. Oops Dan, you forgot to take out the 'allegedly" in this one:

Belfast Telegraph, August 5, 2004, Father demands release of his British son after claims of torture at Guantanamo Bay, By Andrew Buncombe in Washington... allegedly threw prisoners' Korans into toilets, while others were injected with ...

[NeoConIV]

Oh duh, the officials at Gitmo are guilty until proven innocent. My bad.

[Bandit2981]

Oh duh, the officials at Gitmo are guilty until proven innocent. My bad.
apparently some of the prisoners are too

[The Ressurrected One]

See, that just it, unless someone in the American SS, or intelligence agencies breaks rank and start spilling the beans the only people talking about this are the former detainees, and their stories have been spread across a wide spectrum of foreign press..

Yorkshire Post, November 1, 2004 | Tipton Three turn on the trauma for £22m... injected with "unknown substances", and had their Korans thrown into the toilets.

DAILY MAIL (London), October 28, 2004, ED_3RD; Pg. 1; Pg. 2, TIPTON THREE SUE FOR Pounds 22M, DUNCAN GARDHAM... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

DAILY MAIL (London), October 28, 2004, ED_3RD; Pg. 1; Pg. 2, TIPTON THREE SUE FOR Pounds 22M, DUNCAN GARDHAM... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

The Express, October 28, 2004, U.K. 3rd Edition; NEWS; Pg. 4, GUANTANAMO BRITONS WILL SUE US FOR £22M, By Lianne Kolirin... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

Irish News, October 28, 2004, Pg. 26, British men detained at Guantanamo sue US government for rights abuses;... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

Press Association, October 27, 2004, Wednesday, HOME NEWS, GUANTANAMO BRITONS SUE US GOVERNMENT, Mark Sage, PA News, in New York... guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets

Belfast Telegraph, August 5, 2004, Father demands release of his British son after claims of torture at Guantanamo Bay, By Andrew Buncombe in Washington... allegedly threw prisoners' Korans into toilets, while others were injected with ...

Birmingham Post, August 5, 2004, Thursday, First Edition; NEWS; Pg. 2, TIPTON TRIO CLAIM THEY WERE TORTURED BY ALLIES, EMMA PINCH A detainee is led by military police to be interrogated by military officials at Camp X-Ray at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul... Guards would throw prisoners' Korans into the toilet 'as part of their clear policy to ...

Federal News Service, August 5, 2004 Thursday, PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT - RELEASED GUANTANAMO DETAINEES ALLEGE ABUSE (ABC RADIO, AUSTRALIA, 08:25 (GMT+11) AUGUST 05, 2004)... guards would throw detainees' Korans down the toilet and shave them, to try to get them to ...

IPR Strategic Business Information Database, June 28, 2004, THEY ALLEGE ABUSE BY U.S. CAPTORS... at Guantanamo. "They tore the Koran to pieces in front of us, threw it into the toilet," Vakhitov said.

BBC Monitoring International Reports, June 26, 2004, RUSSIAN TV INTERVIEWS FREED GUANTANAMO PRISONERS... bucket instead of a toilet. People were in cells, ... ... floor. (Vahitov) They tore the Koran to pieces in front of us, threw it into the toilet.

The Observer, March 14, 2004, Observer News Pages, Pg. 5, 5420 words, World Exclusive: Inside Guantanamo: How we survived jail hell: For two years the Tipton Three have been silent prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Now, in this remarkable interview with David Rose, they describe for the first time the extraordinary story of their journey from the West Midlands to Camp Delta, David Rose... ... sleeping tents, copies of the Koran would be trampled on by ... ... occasion, thrown into a toilet bucket.

This isn't any colleberated effort as TRO would like us to believe. When enough people say the same thing you have to believe that there is some truth to it. Remember that these are the same people who at first denied that there was any prisoner abuse going on a Guantano bay and Abu Gharib until pictures taken at the prisons showed otherwise.

Who you gonna believe now? Sources who have deceived you before?
These were confirmed events? Or, just hearsay?

Oh, and when enough people say the same thing, you have to question their motives and their connection to one another and the possibility of colluding because they know the Western media will eat it up and use it to foment more hatred against the U.S. and the administration...

[The Ressurrected One]

apparently some of the prisoners are too
Yep. They were all captured on the field of battle -- not fighting on our side. I'd say they have some 'splainin' to do, Lucy.

They could have been shot...which, in my mind, is probably what the U.S. needs to start doing to them.

[Bandit2981]

Yep. They were all captured on the field of battle
um, no. i have a question for you yoni...ignorance by choice, or just plain fucking dumb?

[NeoConIV]

I wonder, is the actual article available online?

[The Ressurrected One]

um, no. i have a question for you yoni...ignorance by choice, or just plain fucking dumb?
They're all designated as enemy combatants and, unless you're saying they were just randomly, indiscriminately, incarcerated -- there's no logical explanation for why other foreign nationals in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq remained undetained.

I'm comfortable with them being where they are...these aren't legal matters, they're war matters. Innocence/guilt has less to do with securing a war zone than does security. And, the fact remains, under our rules of engagement, they could have been shot instead of detained...if, in the estimation of the commanding officer, our mission would have been better served with them dead.

Besides, I dare say they are getting better treatment than are American and Coalition ex-patriates captured by the so-called "insurgency" in Iraq.

Cry me a frickin' river.

[Spurminator]

Okay, even if Guantanamo officials did trample the Quran and throw it down a toilet... So? Is this such a grave injustice that it needs to be trumpeted by Newsweek? What "need" is satisfied by the public being aware of this? Religious images are desecrated every day in art exhibits across the country.

This whole fucking mess is much ado about nothing. Newsweek are idiots for playing it up, not checking their sources and backing off after it's too late. And the rioters are idiots for allowing their hate to so overpower them that they're willing to believe anything and kill over something so trivial.

I don't care if they pinched a runny turd on each page of the Quran, this was a stupid report to begin with.

[The Ressurrected One]

I wonder, is the actual article available online?
Not if Newsweek is smart.

[The Ressurrected One]

Okay, even if Guantanamo officials did trample the Quran and throw it down a toilet... So? Is this such a grave injustice that it needs to be trumpeted by Newsweek? What "need" is satisfied by the public being aware of this? Religious images are desecrated every day in art exhibits across the country.

This whole fucking mess is much ado about nothing. Newsweek are idiots for playing it up, not checking their sources and backing off after it's too late. And the rioters are idiots for allowing their hate to so overpower them that they're willing to believe anything and kill over something so trivial.

I don't care if they pinched a runny turd on each page of the Quran, this was a stupid report to begin with.
This raises a good point about how Islam treats the religious icons of others.

Like when they bulldozed Joseph's tomb and crushed whatever might have remained of Jesus' earthly father to dust; or, when they turned the Mount of Olives into a latrine...using headstones (some thousands of years old) to construct their outhouses. I don't recall Jews or Christians rioting and killing then...

They can get over a Koran flushing.

[Spurminator]

I wonder how much a shit-smeared Quran would go for on eBay?

Hmmmm....

[The Ressurrected One]

A common theme around the blogs I'm reading has been that the outrage against Newsweek is at least partially misplaced. The contention is that Newsweek doesn’t quite have “blood on its pages” as John Podhoretz (http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/46603.htm) writes today – the real blame lies with the rioters who killed 15 people in Afghanistan.

Clayton Cramer (http://www.claytoncramer.com/weblog/2005_05_15_archive.html#111627342647189899) has a sad, and stinging, observation: “I know that most Muslims kept their cool — but there is something truly bizarre about the intensity of childish behavior in response. If this same crowd were this angry about Muslims being murdered, most of the Arab world's governments would have been overthrown decades ago.”

But to paraphrase our Secretary of Defense, "I don’t live in the world I’d like to have. I live in the world I have."

I wish we lived in a world where a rumor of the desecration of the Koran didn’t lead to furious riots. But we do. I wish the world could expect Muslims to react with non-violent protests and angry letters to the editor, and sarcastic blog posts. Maybe someday they will.

But for now, the state of the world is, you tell a Muslim country that U.S. interrogators are flushing that holy book, and the wet pages covered with dung will hit the fan.

What’s fascinating is that most of us (with a few exceptions), and in fact most of the world recognize that fact. A fact that apparently eluded the bright shining minds over at Newsweek.

Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker said, "I suppose you could say we should have foreseen the consequences of the report, but we didn't."

Bullshit, and that isn’t the word I originally wanted to use.

Just how did Newsweek think the world was going to react to this allegation of epic-level sacrilege? Just how “cool” is the Muslim world with mockery or insults to its faith? Does the name “Salman Rushdie” ring a bell? Do Newsweek editors recall the ultimate reaction to the Dutch politician Pym Fortuyn’s declaration that Islam was a “backward” religion? Hint: It involved six shots to the head, chest and neck.

Never mind those who disrespect Islam, take a look at those who question some interpretations.

Ever wonder why Irshad Manji lives behind bulletproof glass? Why Ayaan Hirsi Ali – a Dutch legislator has to hide from the public spotlight?

Ask Theo Van Gogh – oh, wait, you can’t.

Everybody else seems to grasp the explosive and dangerous passions stirred by stories and sentiments like this. But somehow Newsweek… these worldly reporters… who sneer at the President, and many of his supporters for not understanding the world beyond our borders sufficiently… were caught completely unawares of what the potential fallout for this story could be.

“Huh? Whah? Riots over this allegation? You’re saying the story got even further hyped by foreign papers until there were declarations of jihad? How could this possibly happen?”

And this crowd has the gall to call themselves “the reality-based community.”

I'm getting more angry by the minute.

[Clandestino]

I wonder how much a shit-smeared Quran would go for on eBay?

Hmmmm....

Do it! That would be world news! It'd be dangerous as hell for you though! Best idea I have heard in a long time though! Golden Palace Casino would buy it!

[Spurminator]

I wouldn't do it because I don't want to offend innocent Muslims....


Unless I could get, like, 5 figures. ;)

[Clandestino]

I wouldn't do it because I don't want to offend innocent Muslims....


Unless I could get, like, 5 figures. ;)

depends on how much your life is worth to you! i would need 7 figures or high 6 at least.

[Spurminator]

By the way, if any extremists are currently reading this thread, I am joking. Please don't kill me.

Thank you.

[The Ressurrected One]

By the way, if any extremists are currently reading this thread, I am joking. Please don't kill me.

Thank you.
Just put it up for bids under the name Nbadan...no worries.

[Clandestino]

Just put it up for bids under the name Nbadan...no worries.

or manuel salgado! hahaha

[Extra Stout]

By the way, if any extremists are currently reading this thread, I am joking. Please don't kill me.

Thank you.AYYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA YAYAYAYA!!!!!

In the name of Allah the most gracious, the most merciful...

RIP THIS INFIDEL A NEW ASSHOLE!!! JIHAD!!!

[Spurminator]

Ah, what a perfect day for Team America: World Police to come out on DVD.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/eug/archives/images/team-america-20040719101833503.jpg

[E20]

Like when they bulldozed Joseph's tomb and crushed whatever might have remained of Jesus' earthly father to dust; or, when they turned the Mount of Olives into a latrine...using headstones (some thousands of years old) to construct their outhouses. I don't recall Jews or Christians rioting and killing then...

Muslims shouldn't really have a problem with Jesus because the faith holds him as the messiah and one of the prophets of God so you can't really say Muslims now-a-days hold up to there faith or they hold up to parts they want, what a shame.

[ididnotnothat]

I'm never in favor of a news organization having to reveal its source but, if there was ever a time for that to happen, that moment is now.

Newsweek should reveal its source, this so-called "high level Bush adminstration" person responsible for feeding Newsweek bad information. Just who is it at the White House that's responsible for this mess? Someone should be held accountable.

Next, George Bush needs to get his ass on camera like, THREE DAYS AGO and address the Muslim community.

[The Ressurrected One]

I'm never in favor of a news organization having to reveal its source but, if there was ever a time for that to happen, that moment is now.

Newsweek should reveal its source, this so-called "high level Bush adminstration" person responsible for feeding Newsweek bad information. Just who is it at the White House that's responsible for this mess? Someone should be held accountable.

Next, George Bush needs to get his ass on camera like, THREE DAYS AGO and address the Muslim community.
I particularly think it's imperative they release their source now that it's being floated the Bush administration set Newsweek up...

Get this from Norman Mailer (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/norman-mailer/intelligence-101a_1142.html) at The Huffington Post:


Intelligence 101A

I'm beginning to see why one would want to write a blog. At present, I have a few thoughts I can certainly not prove, but the gaffe over the Michael Isikoff story in Newsweek concerning the Koran and the toilet is redolent with bad odor. Who, indeed, was Isikoff's supposedly reliable Pentagon source? One's counter-espionage hackles rise. If you want to discredit a Dan Rather or a Newsweek crew, just feed them false information from a hitherto reliable source. You learn that in Intelligence 101A.

Counter-espionage often depends on building "reliable sources." You construct such reliability item by secret item, all accurate. That is seen by the intelligence artists as a necessary expenditure. It gains the source his credibility. Then, you spring the trap.

As for the riots at the other end, on this occasion, they, too, could have been orchestrated. We do have agents in Pakistan, after all, not to mention Afghanistan.

Obviously, I can offer no proof of any of the above.[But, of course, that's never stopped a Liberal from opening their pie hole, has it?] There still resides, however, under my aging novelist's pate a volunteer intelligence agent, sadly manque. He does suggest that the outcome was too neat. It came out too effectively for one side, one special side. At the age of eighty-two I do not wish to revive old paranoia, but Lenin did leave us one valuable notion, one, at any rate. It was "Whom?" When you cannot understand a curious matter, ask yourself, "Whom? Whom does this benefit?" Dare I suggest that our Right has just gained a good deal by way of this matter? In every covert Department of Dirty Tricks, whether official, semi-official, or off-the-wall, great pride is best obtained by going real deep into down-and-dirty-land—Yeah! Expedite the consequences.

[Nbadan]

I'm never in favor of a news organization having to reveal its source but, if there was ever a time for that to happen, that moment is now.

Umm...but yet, protecting the source of a intelligence leak and getting innocent people killed in the process isn't the time for the corporate media to be forced to reveal it's source?

[Nbadan]

Howie Kurtz of the Washington Post, writes what many of us are feeling about the Republican echo-chamber's non-stop attack against Newsweak...


Debate Over Newsweek Retraction of Report Widens
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 18, 2005; Page A12

The debate over a retracted Newsweek report broadened yesterday into an argument about media and government ethics, with the White House urging the magazine to help undo the harm to American interests and critics accusing the administration of trying to deflect attention from its own deceptions.

Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters that he welcomed Newsweek's formal retraction of a news item saying military investigators had confirmed that a U.S. interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had flushed a copy of the Koran down the toilet. Although that was "a good first step," McClellan said, the White House wants Newsweek "to help repair the damage" by explaining "what happened and why they got it wrong, particularly to people in the region."

-snip-

Lawmakers of both parties entered the fray on Capitol Hill. Rep. Fortney "Pete" Stark (D-Calif.) charged the White House with hypocrisy, saying: "The administration is chastising Newsweek for a story that contained a fact that turned out to be false. This is the same administration that lied to the Congress, the United Nations and the American people by fabricating reasons to send us to war."

Stark added in an interview: "For the administration to be holier-than-thou about this is somewhere between obscene and funny. There are publications that often expose weaknesses in administration positions and they don't like that. They play tough."

Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/17/AR2005051701237.html)

[Nbadan]

McClellan says the often-cited "Koran in the toilet" news that Newsday also cited caused the deaths of people in Afghanistan.

MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7873141/#050516b)

Funny.

That's not what Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers said:


Last Thursday, General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Donald Rumsfeld’s go-to guy whenever the situation calls for the kind of gravitas the Secretary himself can’t supply, told reporters at the Pentagon that rioting in Afghanistan was related more to the on-going political reconciliation process there, than it was to a controversial note buried in the pages of Newsweek claiming that the government was investigating whether or not some nitwit interrogator at Gitmo really had desecrated a Muslim holy book.

Defenselink.mil (http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2005/tr20050512-...)

So Scotty...who were ya trying to FOOL DUPE CON LIE TO this time? Oh that's RIGHT, the same group as always...rightwingnut fools who so love being conned, duped, lied to and made total rubes of.

[SPARKY]

So Newsweak ran a story with some details which proved to be false but your favorite political sports team's opponent "lied".

It all makes sense now...

[Nbadan]

So Newsweak ran a story with some details which proved to be false

The details are probably accurate, check for yourself:

1st article
http://www.kuwaitifreedom.org/media/pdf/Nightmare%20of%...

2nd article
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Iraq/Detainee-alleges-US-...

3rd article
http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/uk/3959635.stm

4th article
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-10-17-halabi_x...

5th article
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/08/04/guantanamo.abuse.accu... /

6th article
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?...

7th article
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronic...

8th article
http://www.countercurrents.org/hr-rose170504.htm

9th article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1216645,00....

10th article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1169...

11th article
http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=6513&PHPSE...


What should really be under dispute is why Newsweak decided to retract this claim in the first place? Did Isacoff bend to political pressure in order to help avoid more possible death and violence in Afghanistan and fermenting Anti-Americanism in the region? If the U.S. had to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, that sure would have put a serious crimp in the adminstrations plans to be in Iran by June.

[The Ressurrected One]

http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/Cartoons/05-18-2005.gif