A group of Afghan Muslim clerics threatened yesterday to call for a holy war against the US in three days unless it hands over military interrogators reported to have desecrated the Quran.Uh-huh...military interrogators who don't exist. Thanks, Newsweek...
The warning came after 16 Afghans were killed and more than 100 hurt last week in the worst anti-US protests across the country since US forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.This blood is on Newsweek's hands...
The clerics in the northeastern province of Badakhshan said they wanted US President George W Bush to handle the matter honestly "and hand the culprits over to an Islamic country for punishment".And these folks will denounce our President when he tells them that Newsweek lied. Thanks Newsweek...
"If that does not happen within three days, we will launch a jihad against America," said a statement issued by about 300 clerics, after meeting in the main mosque in the provincial capital, Faizabad.More jihad against America...great! Thanks, Newsweek...
Newsweek magazine said in its May 9 edition investigators probing abuses at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay found that interrogators "had placed Qurans on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book down the toilet".Your lies are costing lives and damaging America's reputation. Great work there Newsweek. Thanks a lot...
This constant sedition on the part of the American media must not go unanswered. Someone at Newsweek MUST take responsibility for this. And there must be a punishment beyond losing a job. Actual lives are at risk here...it is time the media realizes this fact.
11:15AM Update
One of my BNN colleagues is a Newsweek apologist and has this to say on the subject:1. Accounts of alleged abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo have been around for a long time, including allegations of desecrations of the Quran. As the Newsweek Periscope item noted right at the get-go, they appeared even in FBI e-mails. Newsweek's mention of the desecration was enumerated before any other of the alleged findings, but they didn't splash it - and rightly so. It was, at most, a very modest advance of the story.Accounts aren't proof. And quite frankly, media is supposed to be dealing in what they can prove to be true. That's what the news is supposed to be...
2. Newsweek has refused to identify its original source, a commonplace in a profession which relies upon sources; no foul. Presumably, Newsweek had reason to suppose him trustworthy. They made two efforts to confirm with other sources, presumably in a position to know, what they were told by their first source. One of their querants refused to say anything, and the other corrected part of their story but not the Quran allegation. Given that the allegations are practically a commonplace, that it came to them from a source they trusted, that two additional sources "non-denied," and that Newsweek gave it almost offhand treatment, characterizing the item as "reckless" (Malkin) and a "fabrication" (Moore) is way over the top.The reason Newsweek finds the source reliable is that the source appears to fit Newsweek's profile of their agenda. If this source is so hot, why is Newsweek backing off the story now? Why didn't Newsweek check this story out before publishing it?
"Fabrication" may be out of bounds, but "reckless" is exactly how I would characterize Newsweek's performance on this story.
Lots of news stories get written on the strength of lots less.And that would be a problem now wouldn't it...
3. Newsweek didn't kill anybody. Islamic fundamentalists did.And that makes it all better for Newsweek doesn't it...
4. It isn't even, really, all-settled that the desecrations in question haven't occurred. And since Newsweek went with its story before the report was released, meaning the Pentagon had time to edit the report, it isn't all-settled either that the findings weren't in the report. It's hardly unbelievable - and since when is the denial of a single Pentagon spokesman dispositive? Especially one so dumb as to say that Newsweek's source can't be credible because, Hey!, what their source said tipped Muslim street-people without jobs into killing each other?So, why not wait for the report? The rush to get a story out there that is damaging to the US, this administration, and our military is blinding our media to things they would otherwise catch...no way this story should have been published with the evidence they had on hand. It's Dan Rather all over again: agenda journalism at its worst.
Mark's Remarks
Don't tell that to the Andrew Sullivans and BNN blogger colleagues of the world....Heavens no, the media never kills with words...however, that Rush Limbaugh! He is to blame for Oklahoma City, abortion clinic bombings, James Byrd, you name it....Finally, the projection is coming home to roost on the MSM. How does it feel to be a butcher of Afghanistan, Mr. Isikoff? I hope you can sleep at night, as is my wish for the editorial board at Newsweak, that they can sleep at night knowing that their irresponsibility led to the deaths of 17 people and the injuries of 100s more....Wait, of course they can, because it is not their fault! The eds are already blaming the Bush White House (is anyone surprised?) because they didn't deny the charge soon enough. Well, boys, you see, unlike YOU, they wanted to investigate before saying something incorrect and wrong! Then, they are also blaming the Pentagon!?!
Here is a novel idea: take the blame and responsibility yourselves. Own up to it--you killed 17 people and injured hundreds because you hate this President, you hate the military, and you are so driven by bias and a liberal agenda you will sacrfice ethics, even lives, to get your way.....
