Muslims sceptical over Newsweek back-track on Koran

[allemand]

16 May 2005 10:12:49 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL, May 16 (Reuters) - Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan were sceptical on Monday about an apparent retraction by Newsweek magazine of a report that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran and said U.S. pressure was behind the climb-down. (...)

"We will not be deceived by this," Islamic cleric Mullah Sadullah Abu Aman told Reuters in the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan, referring to the magazine's retraction.

"This is a decision by America to save itself. It comes because of American pressure. Even an ordinary illiterate peasant understands this and won't accept it."

Aman was the leader of a group of clerics who on Sunday vowed to call for a holy war against the United States in three days unless it handed over the military interrogators reported to have desecrated the Koran.

More:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL165639.htm

Juan Cole puts things into perspective, commenting about "the real reason for which some in the Pentagon are so angry about the Newsweek story. It may well so focus international outrage on Guantanamo that Rumsfeld will lose his little psych lab."
http://www.juancole.com/2005/05/guantanamo-controversies-bible-and.html

[Alpharetta]

1. U.S. "oops. we only wanted our FUNDIES to think it was a holy war"

"We didn't mean for you Muslims to get proof we officially sanctioned a holy war. We only wanted our US fundies to know about it."

[countmyvote4real]

2. Me, too.

Funny how this retraction is getting more coverage than the Downing Street memo.

[ElectroPrincess]

3. Yes, we are in for a long cold winter of anti-truth = propaganda

Americans have been so dumbed-down with FOX propaganda, sicko sex crimes sensationalism, and other insults from the Right Wing noise machine. Tragic. :(

[central scrutinizer]

27. but the flip side of that is...

the rest of the world knows that the US press is not independent so when Newsweek or some other publication tries to retract a story, the rest of the world knows that they are doing it under pressure from the government. Just like nobody in the US ever believed a word from Pravda or Tass during the Cold War.

[BrendaStarr]

34. If we made sure to tell the rest of the American people

then our people would know too.

[Disturbed]

4. The retraction will replace the Downing St. memo because..

not even the Dems want to deal with that. Newsweek should not have retracted it's story because it will not satisfy the radical Muslims and will further discredit Newsweek. Seems that BushCo put some heavy pressure on NW to make them retract because other stories of the same nature have been published before.

[bullimiami]

7. no. newsweek should not have retracted the story because it is true.

they are cowards.

[Karenina]

18. From Daily Kos...

http://dailykos.com/story/2005/5/15/211444/985

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

11. Muslims aren't the only ones who are sceptical

I am, too.

Our government at work for us. Now they can completely destroy and discredit Newsweek, blame Newsweek for the violence and unrest, distract away from the Downing St. Memo, add to their list of turrorusts, and escalate an unwinnable war - all in one fell swoop.

Yep. I'm sceptical, all right.

[countmyvote4real]

31. Pressure from BFEE, GE & MSNBC.

And it goes beyond that. Good grief, the NW retrraction was the tease for my local CBS (Viacom) 11pm news. LOCAL news story in NYC!!!

Weather reporting is the most reliable domestic news. Sometimes there is truth in irony.

[Career Prole]

5. Hey Rumsfeld...if the aim of your psy-ops is humiliation, it's working.

I'm humiliated.

[etherealtruth]

13. Touche n/t

[enough]

6. Thanks for the Juan Cole link.

Very useful.

snip>

The Pentagon has claimed that the incident did not occur. Although the corporate media are now reporting that Newsweek had "backed off" the report, that isn't true.

Newsweek explains that in response to Pentagon queries,

"On Saturday, Isikoff spoke to his original source, the senior government official, who said that he clearly recalled reading investigative reports about mishandling the Qur'an, including a toilet incident. But the official, still speaking anonymously, could no longer be sure that these concerns had surfaced in the SouthCom report."

Isikoff's source, in other words, stands by his report of the incident, but is merely tracing it to other paperwork. What difference does that make? Although Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita angrily denounced the source as no longer credible, in the real world you can't just get rid of a witness because the person made a minor mistake with regard to a text citation.

snip>

Newsweek has, in other words, confirmed that the source did read a US government account of the desecration of the Koran.

snip>

[bullimiami]

8. bush wants to prove his god is badder than their god.

thats all he knows. mindless brutality and the law of the jungle.

the original lie was the day right after 9/11 when he stood up and said its not about religion.
meanwhile he was rounding up muslims and plotting a genocide in the middle east.

[ezekiel333]

16. Same God

different book.

[killbotfactory]

23. Don't tell Bush that...

His head might explode

[Maeve]

9. That is what I thought when I heard the report

"Newsweek has, in other words, confirmed that the source did read a US government account of the desecration of the Koran."

The story didn't come out of thin air to Isikoff or his source.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Even an ordinary illiterate peasant understands

because they don't have cable and aren't subjected to FAUX News 24/7.

[malaise]

12. So am I

This is very suspicious

[MADem]

14. The stained hand of Michael Isikoff, yet again

He, of Monica fame. Why is he always up to his ass in intrigue? He was so "careful" to hold his Monica story for confirmation, so it could be stolen by Drudge (don't leave your work product in your inbox, maybe?), but in this case there is a need to rush to the press?

WTF? Is he incompetent, a tool, or what?

[megatherium]

15. I am offended that Newsweak caved into "angry" Pentagon officials.

But I am also skeptical that riots in Afghanistan are the result of a little item in Newsweek's Periscope column. Like, people there are reading Newsweek? The militants are telling their people the lie that our goal is to destroy Islam, and they comb our media looking for proof. A nice way of motivating your followers to kill and be killed, evidently.

[Karenina]

17. Lie?

They don't need to "comb" your pitiful excuse for media, they can look out the front door and SEE what your *MIC is DOING. :eyes:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3660441

[megatherium]

20. You're right, they have plenty of reason to be angry.

What we've done in Iraq is terrible. Our mission in Afghanistan may have been justifiable, but we had no business going into Iraq. But I can't support the militants; they are trying real hard to trigger what would be a horrible civil war in Iraq, and they're looking to get back into power in Afghanistan. So yes, they're looking for things to motivate their constituencies. If they see a little tidbit in Newsweek that says we abused a copy of the Koran, they'll broadcast this.

On edit: by lie I meant the claim our goal is really to destroy Islam. That is not our goal. Our goal is to bring down the terrorists (al Qaeda, the Taliban, and similar groups), and secure the oil fields. I don't think Bush and his people care one way or the other about the religion; we've cuddled up to the Saudis for decades, and their version of Islam is extreme even to other muslims. But the militants equate their politics with Islam, and to the extent they can convince their followers that this is so, they can convince them that we are mortal enemies of Islam.

[Karenina]

25. Something damn near impossible

for mostly monolingual Amis, especially those who have never lived anywhere else for an extended period of time, is "Zärtlichkeit." That's one of those special words in Deutsch that defies a dictionary translation. It's a very particular kind of empathy and sensitivity.

The "mission" in Afghanistan was in NO WAY JUSTIFIED. There has NEVER been any hard and fast evidence to "prove" Bin a CIA Asset "masterminded" ANYTHING. Ever wonder what might have ensued had the U.S. embarked on a "bridge-building" campaign, won a few hearts and minds and treated the event as a crime while working with other nations?

Who are these "militants?" You assign the source of all evil to "swarthy" boogeymen without regard to the region's history. Do you actually believe they are hanging their hats on a blurb in Newsweek?
Do you actually believe this is the first desecration they've heard about?

As for the destruction of Islam, from their point of view it is kein Thema. The U.S. MIC and its X-tian Top Guns have made their intentions PERFECTLY CLEAR. Perhaps if you google Christian Reconstructionism and Dominionism and reflect on the DESTRUCTION of Baghdad's MUSEUM and archeological sites you may be able to witness the crime from another corner.

The U.S. MIC has become the mortal enemy of EVERYONE whose desire is to co-exist peacefully on this planet. I realize that is difficult for you to grok, but it is the unvarnished truth.

[megatherium]

29. Your point is well-taken but please do not accuse me of being a bigot.

I am well aware of the region's history. I have muslim friends. I am a college professor (a mathematician), and I have long worked with Arab and Persian colleagues. You and I disagree on who is responsible for the September 11 attacks, and we disagree on whether military action in Afghanistan was ever justifiable. This doesn't make me a bigot or ignorant. (But we do agree about Iraq -- the US should never have gone there and the US should leave now.)

But may I suggest that you're practicing a subtle bigotry of your own: "never lived anywhere else"; "monolingual Amis". Typical attributes of Americans which may or may not apply to me -- you don't know either way, do you? Kein Thema there, right? Actually, I know a little German, two years in college. And a little bit of French. (But the fine piece of literature I read in that language: Y. Meyer, Ondelettes. Bleeding-edge mathematics.) As far as living somewhere else? Does my postdoc in Vancouver BC count? (Don't ever ask a Canadian why Canada is different than the US! I confess to making that mistake early on.)

Cheeers.

[jobycom]

19. At least one atheist is skeptical, too. nt.

[Pathwalker]

21. They are not alone in their skepticism.

I don't believe their backtracking either. No one said squat until they realized it was causing problems, so their belated I'm sorry is worthless. Thanks to Lil Dick Tater, no one believes us anymore, and we've earned their mistrust.

[killbotfactory]

22. Why would they be skeptical?

Don't they listen to our conservative echo chamber?

[HockeyMom]

24. Abu Ghraib

If Abu Ghraib could happen, the desecration of the Koran absolutely could too. Our media is controlled now by the Bush White House. That Newsweek is recanting this doesn't surprise me at all. You don't think the White House would not have bullied the media into suppressing the Abu Graib story if not for all those pictures released to the public?

[MADem]

35. It DID happen, the retraction only refers to the incident's appearance

...in the SOUTHCOM investigation report. See here for some abuse history, this has been in the public domain since July 04: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1788304&mesg_id=1788326

[tjdee]

26. I love how Company Cuckoo Bananas thought that would work.

Like, "those Muslims are so dumb they'll think the magazine made the mistake!"??

Sigh.

[Darranar]

28. I'm skeptical, too. Far too convenient. n/t

[goclark]

30. This smells just like ROVE and the BCF

I am irate when I think that The BCF(Bush Crime Family) has killed thousands in an illegal war and now Newsweek is going to be put out of business by the Christian right because they had the guts to tell THE TRUTH!

It is yet another pull the hankie out of the hat trick by the scum of the earth.

[ngGale]

32. All sounds like Rove to me...

covered up way to much news. The story is true, I'm sure - after reading Juan Cole's article. Why should we doubt the story, after everything else we have done. I even heard it compared to Rathergate, think it was Joe Scarborough. Talk about propaganda!

[PurityOfEssence]

33. Correction: ev-v-v-ryone skeptical over Newsweek back-track

We didn't mean to say that our thugs did what they did, and they certainly weren't spurred on by their higher-ups. No. Really. We swear...or, I guess...AFFIRM. Yeah, that's it.

No pressure, either. Really.