Afghanistan and the Qur'an Incident

[NousDefionsDoc]

Article (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7857154/site/newsweek/)

The Editor's Desk
Newsweek

May 23 issue - Did a report in NEWSWEEK set off a wave of deadly anti-American riots in Afghanistan? That's what numerous news accounts suggested last week as angry Afghans took to the streets to protest reports, linked to us, that U.S. interrogators had desecrated the Qur'an while interrogating Muslim terror suspects. We were as alarmed as anyone to hear of the violence, which left at least 15 Afghans dead and scores injured. But I think it's important for the public to know exactly what we reported, why, and how subsequent events unfolded.

Two weeks ago, in our issue dated May 9, Michael Isikoff and John Barry reported in a brief item in our periscope section that U.S. military investigators had found evidence that American guards at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had committed infractions in trying to get terror suspects to talk, including in one case flushing a Qur'an down a toilet. Their information came from a knowledgeable U.S. government source, and before deciding whether to publish it we approached two separate Defense Department officials for comment. One declined to give us a response; the other challenged another aspect of the story but did not dispute the Qur'an charge.

Although other major news organizations had aired charges of Qur'an desecration based only on the testimony of detainees, we believed our story was newsworthy because a U.S. official said government investigators turned up this evidence. So we published the item. After several days, newspapers in Pakistan and Afghan-istan began running accounts of our story. At that point, as Evan Thomas, Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai report this week, the riots started and spread across the country, fanned by extremists and unhappiness over the economy.

Last Friday, a top Pentagon spokesman told us that a review of the probe cited in our story showed that it was never meant to look into charges of Qur'an desecration. The spokesman also said the Pentagon had investigated other desecration charges by detainees and found them "not credible." Our original source later said he couldn't be certain about reading of the alleged Qur'an incident in the report we cited, and said it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts. Top administration officials have promised to continue looking into the charges, and so will we. But 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.

—Mark Whitaker
© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.

Apparently the only log entry is one of the detainees doing it.

Responsible journalism at its finest.

[The Reaper]

Send Newsweek the butcher's bill.

Thanks a heap, American journalists.

TR

[CommoGeek]

Cities other than J-bad experienced fatal rioting. Like good insurgents the riots were used as a cover for the more nefarious factions to go out and do the devil's work.

Screw Newsweek.

[Gypsy]

Great. I still wonder what the hell it's going to take for the media to possess responsibility and accountability when reporting. Idiots.

[Trip_Wire (RIP)]

Send Newsweek the butcher's bill.

Thanks a heap, American journalists.

TR

Right on TR!
:mad:

[lrd]

But 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.

—Mark Whitaker

Lame.

They regret, and extend their sympathies?

How about -- we take responsibility...

[NousDefionsDoc]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/15/afghan.protests.reut/index.html


---
Clerics threaten holy war over alleged Quran desecrations
Sunday, May 15, 2005 Posted: 7:33 AM EDT (1133 GMT)

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- A group of Afghan Muslim clerics have threatened to call for a holy war against the United States in three days unless it hands over military interrogators reported to have desecrated the Quran.

The warning on Sunday 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 U.S. President George W. 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 the main mosque in the provincial capital, Faizabad.

The statement was read out by Abdul Fatah Fayeq, the top judicial official in the mountainous, conservative province near the borders of Tajikistan and China.

Muslim clerics have traditionally been teachers and leaders in Afghan society and throughout its history they have rallied public opinion and sometimes led uprisings against unpopular rulers and foreign occupiers.

Newsweek magazine said in its May 9 edition investigators probing abuses at the U.S. 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."

Muslims consider the Quran the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence.

The United States has tried to calm global Muslim outrage over the incident, saying disrespect for the Quran was abhorrent and would not be tolerated, and military authorities were investigating the allegation.

Growing protests
Another group of clerics in the north demanded punishment for those responsible for desecrating the Quran but did not call for holy war, the governor of Kunduz province said.

The protests began in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Tuesday. Violence broke out there on Wednesday and there were clashes in several other places on Thursday and Friday.

Scattered protests on Saturday were mostly peaceful, while on Sunday no demonstrations were reported.

While some Afghan analysts say Muslim rage over the desecration report sparked the protests, not hatred of America, there is growing resentment of U.S. troops, especially in southeastern areas where they are most active.

The United States commands a foreign force in Afghanistan of about 18,300, most of them American, fighting Taliban insurgents and hunting militant leaders, including bin Laden.

President Hamid Karzai, a staunch U.S. ally, has urged the United States to punish anyone found guilty of desecrating the Quran. He said foreign hands were behind the disturbances, but did not identify them.

The anti-U.S. protesters have also criticized Karzai and his U.S.-backed government, attacking and torching provincial offices and police stations as well as U.N. and aid agency compounds.

[NousDefionsDoc]

I expect pinheads like Newsweek to do stupid things. What I want is the name of whoever from the USGOV they talked to, the one "now backing away from the story". When will we learn nothing good ever comes from talking to the press or taking pictures?

[The Reaper]

I guess that Muslims do not believe in the old "Innocent till proven guilty" concept.

How about this corollary?

"You have three days to hand over OBL and all AQ members in your country, or we are going to burn you to bedrock. Nothing follows."

TR

[Roguish Lawyer]

"You have three days to hand over OBL and all AQ members in your country, or we are going to burn you to bedrock. Nothing follows."


I like it. Hmm, maybe YOU should be Sec State in the RL Cabinet. Since you're so diplomatic . . . :D

[The Reaper]

President Hamid Karzai, a staunch U.S. ally, has urged the United States to punish anyone found guilty of desecrating the Quran. He said foreign hands were behind the disturbances, but did not identify them.


Wouldn't that be the Newsweek personnel responsible for printing this unconfirmed story?

How about we hand them over for Islamic justice? We can tell them that they are going to get the other side of the story from the "Muslim street".

TR

[QRQ 30]

The shame is that no amount of opologies or regrets can undo the damage done to the work already accomplished.

It is like a gun, once you pull the trigger you can't recall the bullet.

[The Reaper]

The shame is that no amount of opologies or regrets can undo the damage done to the work already accomplished.

It is like a gun, once you pull the trigger you can't recall the bullet.

Exactly.

And the reporters and editors who print that sort of sensationalist tripe feel that the small editorial or correction printed on Page 14 makes it acceptable.

I agree that I would like to know where the info came from and if it is true that they violated rules or regs, that they are punished IAW law, not by a lynch mob.

TR

[DunbarFC]

I wonder if Newsweek will fit down my toilet...

[QRQ 30]

Here is an E-mail Joe L sent to the editor. How true!!!

Mark:

I will believe your sincerity and regrets for printing an article that incites riots and further denigrates the United States Military when you donate $10,000,000 to the widows and children survivors fund for fallen and wounded US soldiers.

Otherwise I hope you reap what you have sewn.

[moobob]

hey I could use more toilet paper

[Bill Harsey]

hey I could use more toilet paper
Sir, I will assume that for the sake of this discussion and in the hope of committing no further international incidents you are referring to Newsweek?

[moobob]

newsweek roger.

[NousDefionsDoc]

Sorry (http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050515/ts_nm/religion_afghan_newsweek_dc)

[Bill Harsey]

newsweek roger.
Thanks, I thought that was what you meant but I didn't want this misunderstood by any guests here.
I agree with you.

NDD, I got to watch the Newsweek dude do the fumble/bumble explanation on the BBC World News today. He fumbled for the right words to admit wrongdoing without having to say how badly they screwed up.

[The Reaper]

newsweek roger.

Too slick, you want something with more texture like a newspaper or pages from a phonebook.

TR

[Sacamuelas]

Too slick, you want something with more texture like a newspaper or pages from a phonebook.

TR

In a severe camp emergency, Coffee filters work too. Or so I been told.... ;) :D LOL

[jbour13]

Lame.

They regret, and extend their sympathies?

How about -- we take responsibility...

I regret admitting that they are Americans, and I'll extend my middle finger to them!!! :mad:

[Bravo1-3]

...and before deciding whether to publish it we approached two separate Defense Department officials for comment. One declined to give us a response; the other challenged another aspect of the story but did not dispute the Qur'an charge.

And in their pea-brains that's confirmation? "He didn't say 'no' specifically, so it must be true!"

I hope it's their building that gets nailed next time.

[SnafuRacer]

Article: Islam as interrgoation tool: need for limits? (http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0516/p11s02-usmi.html)

[Doc]

We can work very well against our enemies. It's our fellow countrymen that worry me the most.

One step forward, ten backwards.

Doc

[Razor]

We can work very well against our enemies. It's our fellow countrymen that worry me the most.

You and Voltaire are on the same page, Doc.

"Lord, protect me from my friends. I can handle my enemies."

[Doc]

You and Voltaire are on the same page, Doc.

"Lord, protect me from my friends. I can handle my enemies."

Was he SF? It figures another SF Guy would steal my lines. :D

This incident shows me two things;

Cultural awareness is paramount. You can win a battle and still lose the war.

Civilians, in this case the press, don't know squat. Keep looking at the world through American eyes and you'll get bitch slapped everytime.


Doc

[Cincinnatus]

SnafuRacer,

Interesting article. Thanks for posting it. I'd like to hear some of the QPs thoughts on the contents.

[Gypsy]

It's a start, but I'd love to see them fined or something.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050516/ap_on_re_us/newsweek_quran_2

White House Wants Retraction From Newsweek By DINO HAZELL, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 40 minutes ago


NEW YORK - In an apology to readers this week, Newsweek acknowledged errors in a story alleging U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Quran. The accusations, which the magazine vowed to re-examine, spawned protests in Afghanistan that left 15 dead and scores injured.

Responding to harsh criticism from Muslim leaders worldwide, the Pentagon promised to investigate the charges and pinned the deadly clashes on Newsweek for what it described as "irresponsible" reporting.

"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 apology.

The White House said Monday that Newsweek's response was insufficient.

"It's puzzling. While Newsweek now acknowledges that they got the facts wrong, they refuse to retract the story," said presidential spokesman Scott McClellan. "I think there's a certain journalistic standard that should be met. In this instance it was not.

"This was a report based on a single anonymous source that could not substantiate the allegation that was made," McClellan added. "The report has had serious consequences. People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged. I just find it puzzling."

In its issue dated May 9, Newsweek had reported that U.S. military investigators had found evidence that interrogators placed copies of Islam's holy book in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to get inmates to talk.

Whitaker wrote that the magazine's information came from "a knowledgeable U.S. government source," and writers Michael Isikoff and John Barry had sought comment from two Defense Department officials. One declined to respond, and the other challenged another part of the story but did not dispute the Quran charge, Whitaker said.

But on Friday, a top Pentagon spokesman told the magazine that a review of the military's investigation concluded "it was never meant to look into charges of Quran desecration. The spokesman also said the Pentagon had investigated other desecration charges by detainees and found them 'not credible.'"

Whitaker added that the magazine's original source later said he could not be sure he read about the alleged Quran incident in the report Newsweek cited, and that it might have been in another document.

"Top administration officials have promised to continue looking into the charges, and so will we," Whitaker wrote.

Newsweek Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman said the magazine believes it erred in reporting the allegation that a prison guard tried to flush the Quran down a toilet and that military investigators had confirmed the accusation.

"The issue here is to get the truth out, to acknowledge as quickly as possible what happened, and that's what we're trying to do," Klaidman told the "CBS Evening News" on Sunday.

Many of the 520 inmates at Guantanamo are Muslims arrested during the U.S.-led war against the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies in Afghanistan.

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the original story was "demonstrably false" and "irresponsible," and "had significant consequences that reverberated throughout Muslim communities around the world."

"Newsweek hid behind anonymous sources, which by their own admission do not withstand scrutiny," Whitman said. "Unfortunately, they cannot retract the damage they have done to this nation or those that were viciously attacked by those false allegations."

After Newsweek published the story, demonstrations spread across Afghanistan and Muslims around the world decried the alleged desecration.

In Afghanistan, Islamic scholars and tribal elders called for the punishment of anyone found to have abused the Quran, said Maulawi Abdul Wali Arshad, head of the religious affairs department in Badakhshan province.

Arshad and the provincial police chief said the scholars met in Faizabad, 310 miles northeast of the capital, Kabul, and demanded a "reaction" from U.S. authorities within three days.

Lebanon's most senior Shiite Muslim cleric on Sunday said the reported desecration of the Quran is part of an American campaign aimed at disrespecting and smearing Islam.

In a statement faxed to The Associated Press, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah called the alleged desecration a "brutal" form of torture and urged Muslims and international human rights organizations "to raise their voices loudly against the American behavior."

On Saturday, Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, both allies of Washington, demanded an investigation and punishment for those behind the reported desecration of the Quran.

The story also sparked protests in Pakistan, Yemen and the Gaza Strip. The 22-nation Arab League issued a statement saying if the allegations panned out, Washington should apologize to Muslims.

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said in an interview for CNN's "Late Edition" that the allegations were being investigated "vigorously."

"If it turns out to be true, obviously we will take action against those responsible," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Stephen Graham contributed to this report from Kabul, Afghanistan.

[Martinez]

And they call their deal "the religion of peace...."

Guess they have yet to learn that the msm is full of shit.

Jennifer Martinez sends

[aricbcool]

Newsweek prints retraction and it's about damned time:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050517/D8A4LSM02.html

Newsweek Retracts Story on Quran Abuse

May 16, 11:00 PM (ET)

By SETH SUTEL

NEW YORK (AP) - Newsweek magazine, under fire for publishing a story that led to deadly protests in Afghanistan, said Monday it was retracting its report that a military probe had found evidence of desecration of the Quran by U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay.

Earlier Monday, Bush administration officials had brushed off an apology that Newsweek's editor Mark Whitaker had made in an editor's note and criticized the magazine's handling of the story.

Protests broke out across much of the Muslim world last week after Newsweek reported that U.S. investigators found evidence that interrogators had flushed a copy of Muslim's holy book down a toilet in an attempt to rattle detainees. The violence left about 15 dead and scores injured in Afghanistan.

"It's appalling that this story got out there," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said as she traveled home from Iraq.

"People lost their lives. People are dead," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Capitol Hill. "People need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be careful about what they do."

Following the criticism, Whitaker released a statement through a spokesman later Monday saying the magazine was retracting the article.

"Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Quran abuse at Guantanamo Bay," Whitaker said.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan called Newsweek's retraction "a good first step" but said it could not repair all the damage that had been done.

"The report had real consequences," McClellan said. "People have lost their lives. Our image abroad has been damaged. There are some who are opposed to the United States and what we stand for who have sought to exploit this allegation."

McClellan said the Pentagon had looked into the allegations initially and found nothing to substantiate them. "They continue to look into it," he said.

Newsweek had reported in its issue dated May 9 that U.S. military investigators had found evidence that interrogators placed copies of Islam's holy book in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to get inmates to talk.

Whitaker had written in a note to readers that "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 said in his note that while other news organizations had aired charges of Quran abuse based on the testimony of detainees, the magazine decided to publish a short item after hearing from an unnamed U.S. official that a government probe had found evidence corroborating the charges.

But on Friday, a top Pentagon spokesman told the magazine that a review of the military's investigation concluded "it was never meant to look into charges of Quran desecration."

The spokesman also said the Pentagon had looked into other charges by detainees that the Quran had been desecrated and found them to be "not credible."

Whitaker added that the magazine's original source later said he could not be sure he read about the alleged Quran incident in the report Newsweek cited, and that it might have been in another document. Whitaker said the magazine was still looking into the charges.

Many of the 520 inmates at Guantanamo are Muslims arrested during the U.S.-led war against the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, Islamic scholars and tribal elders called for the punishment of anyone found to have abused the Quran, said Maulawi Abdul Wali Arshad, head of the religious affairs department in Badakhshan province.

Arshad and the provincial police chief said the scholars met in Faizabad, 310 miles northeast of the capital, Kabul, and demanded a "reaction" from U.S. authorities within three days.

Lebanon's most senior Shiite Muslim cleric on Sunday said the reported desecration of the Quran is part of an American campaign aimed at disrespecting and smearing Islam.

In a statement faxed to The Associated Press, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah called the alleged desecration a "brutal" form of torture and urged Muslims and international human rights organizations "to raise their voices loudly against the American behavior."

On Saturday, Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, both allies of Washington, demanded an investigation and punishment for those behind the reported desecration of the Quran.

The story also sparked protests in Pakistan, Yemen and the Gaza Strip. The 22-nation Arab League issued a statement saying if the allegations panned out, Washington should apologize to Muslims.

[SnafuRacer]

U.S. Long Had Memo on Handling of Koran Link (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/16/AR2005051601320.html)

By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 17, 2005; A03

More than two years ago, the Pentagon issued detailed rules for handling the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, requiring U.S. personnel to ensure that the holy book is not placed in "offensive areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet, or dirty/wet areas."

The three-page memorandum, dated Jan. 19, 2003, says that only Muslim chaplains and Muslim interpreters can handle the holy book, and only after putting on clean gloves in full view of detainees.

The detailed rules require U.S. Muslim personnel to use both hands when touching the Koran to signal "respect and reverence," and specify that the right hand be the primary one used to manipulate any part of the book "due to cultural associations with the left hand." The Koran should be treated like a "fragile piece of delicate art," it says.

The memo, written a year after the first detainees were brought to Guantanamo from Afghanistan, reflects what U.S. officials said was a specific policy on handling the Koran, one of the most sensitive issues to Muslims. The Pentagon does not have a similar policy regarding any other major religious book and takes "extra precautions" on the Muslim holy book, officials said.

"They're not supposed to in any way disrespect or desecrate the Koran, and there are a very specific set of rules the military has on handling the Koran," State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said yesterday. "We made it clear that our practices and our policies are completely different" from allegations in a Newsweek article that the magazine formally retracted yesterday. The Newsweek report said that U.S. military investigators had confirmed that a U.S. interrogator at Guantanamo had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet.

The Pentagon memo, among other directives, barred military police from touching the Koran. If a copy of the book was to be moved from a cell, the memo said, it must be placed on a "clean, dry detainee towel" and then wrapped without turning it over at any time. Muslim chaplains must then ensure that it is not placed in any offensive area while transported.

In an effort at damage control, the State Department transmitted the Newsweek retraction to all U.S. embassies in Islamic countries yesterday along with statements by top Bush administration officials about U.S. respect for the Koran.

[Roycroft201]

This whole incident and follow-up has me so angry that I can't find a way to put it in words that are appropriate to post on this site.

:mad:

[Bill Harsey]

Newsweek still hasn't figured it out.

This morning I heard a representative of Newsweek say they decided all on their own, with no outside pressure, to print the retraction because it was the right thing to do.

Just a couple days ago they floated the "we admit a mistake but we aren't going to do a retraction" thing.

So magically with no outside pressure they changed their mind.

[Trip_Wire (RIP)]

Too slick, you want something with more texture like a newspaper or pages from a phonebook.

TR

Hmmm! I don't know TR, I got a boil & reaction from using the Stars & Stripes newspaper in Korea. The C-Rat paper was much better. I have tried leaves too! Whatever works for ya!
:p

[lrd]

Great article by Michelle Malkin on the press and the military: It's Not Just Newsweek (http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michelle/malkin051805.php3)