Newsweek magazine said on Sunday it erred in a May 9 report that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, and apologized to the victims of deadly Muslim protests sparked by the article…
Editor Mark Whitaker said the magazine inaccurately reported that U.S. military investigators had confirmed that personnel at the detention facility in Cuba had flushed the Muslim holy book down the toilet.
The report sparked angry and violent protests across the Muslim world from Afghanistan, where 16 were killed and more than 100 injured, to Pakistan to Indonesia to Gaza. In the past week it was condemned in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and by the Arab League.
On Sunday, Afghan Muslim clerics threatened to call for a holy war against the United States.
“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,” Whitaker wrote in the magazine’s latest issue, due to appear on U.S. newsstands on Monday
The weekly news magazine said in its May 23 edition that the information had come from a “knowledgeable government source” who told Newsweek that a military report on abuse at Guantanamo Bay said interrogators flushed at least one copy of the Koran down a toilet in a bid to make detainees talk.
But Newsweek said the source later told the magazine he could not be certain he had seen an account of the Koran incident in the military report and that it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts….more
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For someone who has family over there fighting in the war, this really pisses me off!!!
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May 16th, 2005 at 8:19 am
I’m not an objective observer of the actions of the press. I am biased against them, for their hostility (in my opinion anayway) towards the Bush Administration. Let me clarify, I like Bush, but I am indifferent to most Republicans and Democrats for that matter.
The press is reponsible for reporting the facts, absent of malice, bias, etc. It seems, that the press is opposed to the policies of the Bush administration, and uses the front page of their publications to validate their opposition. This is dangerous, because it stops being about the news, and becomes a personal crusade to make a point. Democrats and the press, who are often one and the same, have relied on each other to weaken the current administration at every turn.
For example, Bush Gaurd documents 2 months before the election. If the Kerry camp did this, it would be fair game in the sense of politics. When the media does it, it’s a personal crusade. Another example of the media’s underhandedness (is that a word?), is the silence of the UN’s duplicity in the Oil for Food scandal and Congo sex scandal. Much was made of Enron and Abu Gharib, as it should have been. But is enron is $1, the Oil for Food scandal is $40-$60. And the Congo sex involved UN personnel having “improper relations” with minors and adults from various villages.
The Democratic Party is supposed to be the opposition party. They are supposed ot lie, cheat, steal (It’s the American Way!!) to win. Same for the Republicans. However, the press is dangerous when it involves itself in that process. Most people tune politicans of opposing parties. The press has the ability to influence people and policy, because it not shapes public opinion, it defines the topics of discussion