05-15-2005, 12:05
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#1
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Afghanistan and the Qur'an Incident
Article
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.
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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05-15-2005, 12:12
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#2
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Quiet Professional
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Send Newsweek the butcher's bill.
Thanks a heap, American journalists.
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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05-15-2005, 12:48
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#3
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: OCONUS
Posts: 415
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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.
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CommoGeek is offline
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05-15-2005, 13:36
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#4
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Midwest
Posts: 7,134
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Great. I still wonder what the hell it's going to take for the media to possess responsibility and accountability when reporting. Idiots.
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My Heroes wear camouflage.
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Gypsy is offline
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05-15-2005, 13:55
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#5
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Pacific NW - Puget Sound
Posts: 1,091
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Send Newsweek the butcher's bill.
Thanks a heap, American journalists.
TR
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Right on TR!
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De Oppresso Liber - RLTW
"To make war upon rebellion is messy and slow, like eating soup with a knife" -TE Lawrence.
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Trip_Wire (RIP) is offline
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05-15-2005, 14:21
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#6
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: MD
Posts: 1,012
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc
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
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Lame.
They regret, and extend their sympathies?
How about -- we take responsibility...
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lrd is offline
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05-15-2005, 14:23
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#7
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Quiet Professional
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http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapc...eut/index.html
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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.
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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05-15-2005, 14:28
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#8
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Quiet Professional
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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?
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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05-15-2005, 14:30
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#9
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
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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
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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05-15-2005, 14:32
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#10
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Consigliere
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland (at last)
Posts: 8,838
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Reaper
"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."
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I like it. Hmm, maybe YOU should be Sec State in the RL Cabinet. Since you're so diplomatic . . . 
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Roguish Lawyer is offline
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05-15-2005, 14:32
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#11
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Quiet Professional
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc
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.
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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
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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05-15-2005, 15:07
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#12
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Williamston, SC
Posts: 2,018
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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.
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QRQ 30 is offline
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05-15-2005, 15:14
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#13
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by 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.
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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
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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05-15-2005, 19:35
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#14
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 372
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I wonder if Newsweek will fit down my toilet...
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“Its never too late to be what you might have been”.
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DunbarFC is offline
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05-15-2005, 20:08
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#15
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Williamston, SC
Posts: 2,018
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Here is an E-mail Joe L sent to the editor. How true!!!
Quote:
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.
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QRQ 30 is offline
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