Afghan Riots Not Tied to Report on Quran Handling, per General

[annabanana]

http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive/2005/May/13-299433.html



The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says a report from Afghanistan suggests that rioting in Jalalabad on May 11 was not necessarily connected to press reports that the Quran might have been desecrated in the presence of Muslim prisoners held in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Air Force General Richard Myers told reporters at the Pentagon May 12 that he has been told that the Jalalabad, Afghanistan, rioting was related more to the ongoing political reconciliation process in Afghanistan than anything else.


please note the origin of this link

[liberal N proud]

1. But it sure was a convenient tool to squash and other media giant

Force those who do not follow the regime into submission

[rodeodance]

2. glad Countdown and Tweety both showed clips of Myers saying this

last night. They made a fool of Myers the lapdown

[MADem]

3. No, but the 'outrage' in PAKISTAN sure as hell was!!!

That 'democratic' nation run by a dictator....but hey, he is OUR dictator, bought and paid for! And this article clearly links the Afghan demos with the NEWSWEEK article, Myers be damned!

https://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbfo/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=770729
There has been growing public outrage in Pakistan over the report. The National Assembly, parliament's lower house, on Monday passed a resolution denouncing the reported desecration and Imran Khan, a Pakistani cricketer turned politician, last week demanded an apology from the United States.
In Jalalabad, Afghanistan, about 2,000 students chanting "Death to America" protested over the reported desecration, some of them holding up an effigy of President Bush and shouting "Death to Bush."
Pakistan called in the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Islamabad to voice its concerns about the report, said U.S. officials in Washington who asked not to be named.

Of course, NEWSWEEK is not a favorite of the regime over there--an edition was BANNED in Pakistan back in 2003:

Newsweek banned over article on the Koran
http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-media/markup/msg00134.html
The Pakistani information minister announced on 24 July that the customs
department had been given orders to seize all copies of the 28 July issue
of Newsweek because of an article entitled "Challenging the Qur'an" (Qur'an
is an alternative way of spelling Islam's sacred book in English). The
Pakistani authorities said the article insulted the Koran and could cause
disturbances.

They LOVE banning NEWSWEEK, it seems to be SPORT, if they mention the Koran, it is not on the stands:
Pakistan bans Newsweek magazine
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4044939.stm
A district magistrate in the capital, Islamabad, ordered all copies of the 22 November issue to be destroyed.

The issue contains an article about murdered Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh and pictures of a woman with Koranic verses inscribed on her body.

Islamic parties said the article showed Western bias against Muslims.

Doncha just LOVE the smell of democracy, blooming amongst our closest allies??? What a load of horseshit!