Newsweek Dives on Koran Desecration Story

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2563&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Rattled perhaps by the outrage reverberating around the Muslim world, the editors of Newsweek have thrown into doubt the veracity of a story they published last week detailing desecration of the Holy Koran as a tool to make reluctant prisoners talk.

The revelations sparked wide-spread demonstration throughout the Muslim world, leading to at least 15 deaths confirmed in Afghanistan, where demonstrators were fired on.

The May 9th Newsweek report said U.S.interrogators, "in at least one case, flushed a holy book down the toilet." They now say that may not have been correct. Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker issued apologizies to those harmed by their allegations of the violation of the Koran, saying: "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's remarks have been published in tomorrow's Newsweek edition.

Newsweek's sudden reversal was prompted by the failure of the story's source, a senior U.S. official can now no longer recall where he first read the U.S. military report revealing the "alleged" practice.

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What a great headline.

[ThomWV]

1. Were I They

Were I a Muslim I simply would not believe the retraction. The denial is not at all plausable, but the original story is.

I'm sure in the eyes of those who watch us so closely that we're seen to have become so barbaric we would do anything to humiliate a prisoner.

[unhappycamper]

2. Dammit! How many times do I gotta tell you to check with the

Reichminister before you print something? Somebody's gonna get dope slapped.

[Southsideirish]

3. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa...

[Skip Intro]

4. oh, a senior US official can no longer recall the details

what a crock

[MrMonk]

5. ...the story's source, a senior U.S. official, can now no longer recall...

where or when he learned about the story, or what his own name is.

Was this story planted to damage Newsweek?

[Frances]

6. Did you see the photos of Abu Gharib (sp?)?

I think putting a Koran in the toilet would be in the same category as those pictures.

So I don't think the story was planted. I think it was a true story but there are no photos to back it up.

[Psephos]

7. Fifteen people are dead

That seems to be the most important, if under-remarked, part of this story.

Peace.