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"Newsweek Lied, People Died" - Page 2

White House presses Newsweek to repair U.S. image abroad

McClellan stopped short of telling Newsweek what to write but said, ''The military put in place policies and procedures to make sure that the Quran was handled or is handled with the utmost care and respect. And I think it would help to point that out.''
Ref. https://home.kyodo.co.jp/all/display.jsp?an=20050518043

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American Hypocrisy At Work: Did Newsweek Damage America's Image?

Let me make sure I heard that correctly . . . . "The image of the United States abroad has been damaged."
Ref. https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8880.htm

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Guantanamo prisoner tells of Koran abuse, US apology

An Afghan who spent three years at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre a said that interrogators frequently desecrated the Koran, which prompted a hunger strike and a US apology.
Ref. https://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1371080.htm

Diedquot People Lied quotNewsweek

Well now it is revealed by an extremely highly respected media outlet, ABC News Australia, that soldiers did in fact desecrate on the Koran. I can tell you personally the ABC never reports something it isn't 100% sure of. It's an organisation driven by standards, not ratings.

I have to say these allegations are nothing new. We had a Guantanmo prisoner illegally held by the US who made similar accusations of disrespect to the Koran.

So maybe Newsweek got it right?

The point is people always criticise when the media get it wrong, even though it would appear in this case they didn't. But how often does the public pay attention to good journalism? Very rarely because people take it for granted.

In every industry there are good and bad practitioners. From my experience as a reporter I have know just as many good journos as bad ones. The actual media outlets that are agenda driven tend to be the ones owned by big media moguls. Fox news is the worst of a bad bunch and disturbingly the most popular news source in the US.

The US mainstream media war coverage for instance, was very agenda driven. To be honest it was total rubbish and very supportive of an illegal invasion without trying to find fault in it. That is not the role of a journalist, but nobody seemed to complain because a lot of you probably supported it and wanted to hear that rather than the truth.

"Newsweek Lied, People Died" History & Civil Business Politics

I would like to know if that "highly respected media outlet, ABC News Australia" has provided any evidence at all? Newsweek has admitted that it could not find any evidence of such things. Even if there is evidence, who blames the US? In the discussions that have been going on all over the blogosphere over the last few days, it has been noted many times that the US has very strict rules about treatment of the Koran, much more than for the Bible or any other religious work. Specifically, the military has established strict rules, from long before there were any prisoners in Guantanamo, to treat the Koran with respect.

The blow-up from this incident is going to go a long ways. Many people are now realizing that while there are allegations that some people showed disrespect for the Koran, there is extensive, hard evidence that Muslims do the same, and much worse, all the time regarding other religions. For example, Saudi Arabia regularly confiscates, shreds, and destroys any Bibles that are found in the country. There are many first-hand reports of Muslims urinating on Bibles to show their disrespect.

Is there going to be riots and murders because of this knowledge? No, because Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and almost all other religions don't react with violence every time someone disagrees with them. None of these religions think that disrespect deserves a death penalty. All of these religions know that it is what is written in their sacred books that is important, not the book itself.

This matter goes much further than just the rush by Newsweek to try to embarrass President Bush and the US military. It is showing us many ways in which the US (and other governments) coddle Muslims, as well as how truly intolerant Islam is to other cultures and ideas.

For a more professional analysis of this situation, I recommend this article, originally published in the Boston Globe.
https://www.townhall.com/columnists/jeffjac...j20050520.shtml

Edited: Nighthawk on 21st May, 2005 - 8:04pm

Page 2 Diedquot People Lied quotNewsweek

^ Nighthawk Human Rights Watch and the Red Cross have also confirmed the accounts. What does appear very clear is that using tactics that offend religious sensibilities as a means of getting information has been well discussed at some level by the people in charge of interrogation. Knowing what tactics offend "alleged" Muslim religious extremists is not something your average US Non Commissioned Officer is aware off..

The comparison between Saudi Arabia is also silly, Saudi Arabia discriminates against sect variations among Muslims to an even more severe degree than other faiths. Defending what has happened by using the Saudi comparison I am afraid does not reflect well on the US Armed Forces

Diedquot People Lied quotNewsweek

When I served in Saudi Arabia in 1991, I was thoroughly briefed on what we could and couldn't do regarding Islamic sensibilities. I was an NCO. I have read many accounts lately about how the military today is counseled to treat Islam. I can guarantee you that there is a very definite double standard. The troops are directly told to be aware of Muslim sensibilities in all things.

Perhaps a copy of the Koran was "desecrated". I don't really know or care. The point is that Newsweek was in such a hurry to try to discredit and/or embarrass the President and the military, that they ran a story that they couldn't support.

Quite frankly, I don't care WHAT the Red Cross or Human Rights Watch have to say about anything. Newsweek published a story that THEY couldn't provide any evidence for, and there have been riots as a result, with hundreds of people injured and at least 16 people dead. My point about Saudi Arabia is that they continuously desecrate Bibles and other religious literature, yet Christians around the world don't riot and murder innocent people as a result. When the Taliban destroyed the magnificent statues in Afghanistan, Buddhists didn't riot. When Palestinans urinate on, trample on, and burn Torahs, Jews in Jerusalem and New York don't go on a rampage of death and destruction. Yet we, in the US, are expected to treat the Koran with extra respect (which we do) in courtrooms, in the military, and in all sort of other public venues. Otherwise, we know that we will not only be held liable, but we can expect riots and murder.

There is a huge double standard here, and everyone knows it, and most people around the world seem to be perfectly happy with it. That is my point here. The Newsweek incident has just thrown it once again onto the world stage.

"Newsweek Lied, People Died"

I agree with Nighthawk on this one, the fact or non-fact that the Koran was desecrated was not the issue here. The issue is that a US news organization broke a story that could and would necessarily cause violence against the US. Breaking that article was not necessary and they had to know it would put more soldiers in danger. They should not have been censored, but they should have used discretion on their part as to what the consequences to their actions would have been. They should have thought about the impact to the soldiers over seas before every publishing the story, true or other wise. It was bad decision making on their part in my opinion. They didn't do anything illegal, and making stupid decisions wont land you in jail, but someone should walk by the editor and slap him in the head!

"Newsweek Lied People Died" - Page 2

Nighthawk, the ABC article directly quotes an inmate who spent three years before being released uncharged from that illegal torture camp known as Guantanamo Bay.

How can you possibly independently verify something that happens in a black hole? It's the prisoners word against a US Defence official. It really wouldn't matter what the prisoner says because you are not going to believe them anyway. The US Army will never admit to using such heinous interrogation methods, although there have been many eyewitness accounts. They won't even investigate such claims, which is disgraceful. Instead, the Pentagon and its media muppets would prefer a smear campaign against the messenger irrespective of the message. They did the same thing to Blix, even though the Swede had the last laugh.

I interviewed the wife of an innocent Australian illegally detained and savagely tortured for three years in Guantanamo Bay. She told me that the US interrogation officers would use female officers to wipe fake menstrual blood on inmates who didn't talk. This appalling act happened to Mamdouh Habib and is extremely offensive to muslim men. These stories have been out in the public sphere for ages, Newsweek did NOT break this.

And why should US media organisations sanitise their news to appease the US Government. It is the media's job to challenge and investigate the wrong doings of your government. They are being irresponsible by NOT doing this. The media is not a Govt propaganda machine. As for their reporting putting US lives at risk, isn't it Rummy's job to do that?

You can't blame the riots on one report comprising old news. Tensions in Afghanistan against US security forces have intensified over the past few years. This, concedes Afghan president Karzai, has a lot to do with the US military's heavy handed methods against 'suspected terrorists' or so called 'remnants of the taliban'. This has resulted in many careless civilian deaths while next to nothing is done to rein in brutal warlords like the Northern Alliance's General Dozdum, Rummy's old mate. You have to remember that post Sept 11 the US military killed more innocent Afghan civilians than those who died in NY. The Afghan's have a reason to riot, all they are looking for is an excuse. Maybe they don't want the US military in their country?

Newsweek did not kill anyone, nor did its report cause killings. Afghans protested when they heard the Koran desecration story (as Christians have protested crucifix desecrations). The Muslim demonstrators were gunned down by the Afghan military police -- who operate under US command.

In Mike Isakoff's expose of cruelty, racism and incompetence by the US military at Guantanamo bay, he cited a 'reliable' source that said among "interrogation" techniques used to break down Muslim prisoners was putting a copy of the Koran into a toilet.

This inside-government source later said he couldn't confirm exactly which military report this scandal appeared in. But he still stands by the information provided and a witnesses has confirmed that the Koran was defiled.

Of course, there's an easy way to get at the truth. Mr Rumsfeld should release the reports in question and let the public make up their own mind.

I take it in this statement you're suggesting that Christians, Jews, Hindus and buddhists have never used violence against those who don't believe in their faith. The Catholic Church has perhaps the bloodiest history of any religion. Hindus have been massacring other minority religions in India since time began. Why do you think Indira Ghandi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguard? As for the Jews and their infallible military, they are hardly angels, are they? Religion has always been used as a means of control over the masses, history has shown this time and time again.

"Newsweek Lied People Died" Politics Business Civil & History - Page 2

I'm finding it more and more difficult to take part in this discussion. Before I am compelled to lash out against anti-American statements, and point out the growing tolerance and sympathetic acceptance of murdering, suicidal, radical-religious militant factions world-wide with possibly insulting language, I feel withdrawl is the only peaceable course.