An inaccurate report by Newsweek Magazine
caused 17 deaths and more than 100 injured. Please read the below news articles. What did Newsweek think was going to happen by printing such a false story?
Newsweek's inaccurate report could have
caused attacks against United States troops and citizens around the world. Already, the story has caused non-American
deaths and injuries.
Do you feel a simple apology is adequate, or do you feel
more severe charges should be brought against Newsweek? Personally, I feel that there should be more severe charges
brought up by the Federal Government. What Do you think?
I believe it is treason. Intentionally or not, Newsweek openly
supported our enemy during time of war. Newsweek's administration must have realized the impact a story like this
would have on the World. Americans around the world can still be killed because of Newsweek's false story. Now,
radicals are saying Newsweek is being forced to retract the story. These radicals still believe that the story is true
and they are trying to motivate others into believing, it's true..
If someone gets killed, Newsweek's administration should be held responsible.
This new American News Media trashing of our military is beginning to be called "Toiletgate."
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The word is spreading on the internet.
Please do your part.
Newsweek Urged to Do More to Repair Damage
By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent 1 hour, 7 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The White House says Newsweek took a "good first step" by retracting its story that
U.S. investigators found evidence interrogators at Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Quran, but it wants the magazine to do more
to repair damage caused by the article.
Newsweek on Monday retracted the report in its May 9 issue after officials in the White House,
the Pentagon and the State Department criticized its publication and its use of an anonymous source. Protests in Afghanistan, where more than a dozen people died and scores were injured in rioting, and demonstrations elsewhere
in the Muslim world were blamed on the article.
"The report had real consequences," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Monday. "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. It will take work to undo what can be undone."
McClellan said a retraction was only "a good first step" and said Newsweek should try to set the
record straight by "clearly explaining what happened and how they got it wrong, particularly to the Muslim world, and pointing
out the policies and practices of our military."
Daniel Klaidman, Newsweek's Washington bureau chief, said Tuesday in an interview on CBS' "The
Early Show" that the magazine will "continue to look at how we put together this story, learn from mistakes that we've made
and make improvements that are appropriate as we go along."
Asked if anyone involved in preparing the article would lose his job, Klaidman said, "We think
that people acted responsibly and professionally and ... there was no malice, no institutional bias, just a mistake that was
made in good faith." The article was written by Michael Isikoff, an investigative reporter, and John Barry, a national security
correspondent for the magazine.
The Pentagon looked into the allegations initially and found nothing to substantiate them. "They
continue to look into it," McClellan said.
The administration worried that the Newsweek story — and the idea that interrogators at the
U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, tried to make terror suspects talk by desecrating the holy book of Islam —
had undercut attempts to demonstrate tolerance and repair the United States' reputation after global criticism over the Abu
Ghraib prison abuse scandal.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, traveling home from Iraq, said, "It's appalling that this story got out there.
"I do think it's done a lot of harm," Rice said. "Of course, 16 people died but it's also done
a lot of harm to America's efforts" to demonstrate tolerance and breed goodwill in the Muslim world.
U.S. officials did not deny the report when it first appeared.
On Capitol Hill, military leaders were questioned about the Newsweek account after testifying about
base closings.
"We've not found any wrongdoing on the part of U.S. service members," said Gen. Richard Myers,
chairman of Joint Chiefs. He said the Pentagon has investigated the claims, but he did not indicate whether the investigation
was complete.
Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker said the magazine decided to publish the short item after hearing
from an unnamed U.S. official that a government probe had found evidence a Quran had been flushed down a toilet by interrogators.
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 said the magazine's original source later said he could not be sure he had read about
the alleged Quran incident in the report Newsweek cited and that it might have been in another document.
"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.
The Newsweek report was not the first public airing of allegations about U.S. personnel at Guantanamo
Bay desecrating a Quran. In August and October 2004 there were news reports based on a lawsuit and a written report by British
citizens who had been released from the prison in Cuba. They claimed abuse by U.S. guards, including throwing their Qurans
into the toilet.
In January, Kristine Huskey, a lawyer representing Kuwaitis detained at Guantanamo, said they claimed
to have been abused and in one case a detainee watched a guard throw a Quran into a toilet.
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Newsweek retracts story on Koran under pressure
By Steve Holland 17 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newsweek magazine on Monday retracted a report that U.S. interrogators at
Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran after the story triggered protests in Afghanistan that killed 16 people and the White House criticized it.
"Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation
had uncovered Koran abuse at Guantanamo Bay," Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker said in a statement, a day after apologizing for
the report.
The retraction came as the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department all heavily criticized the report and said it had damaged the U.S. image abroad.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan had said it was "puzzling" that Newsweek had not retracted the story a day after apologizing
for it.
"A retraction is a good first step," McClellan said after Newsweek issued its statement. "This
allegation was unsubstantiated and it was contrary to everything that we value and all that our military works to uphold.
We encourage Newsweek to now work diligently to help undo what damage can be undone."
"People lost their lives. the image of the United States abroad has been damaged. It will take
work to undo what can be undone," McClellan said.
The Pentagon said earlier an investigation remained open into allegations contained in Newsweek's
May 9 report.
The report sparked violent protests across the Muslim world -- from Afghanistan, where 16 were
killed and more than 100 injured, to Pakistan, Indonesia and Gaza. In the past week the reported desecration was condemned
in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and by the Arab League.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said it was appalling that "an article that was unfounded
to begin with has caused so much harm, including loss of life."
The U.S. image had already been tarnished in many parts of the Arab world, and Washington has labored
to rebuild trust among Muslims following last year's disclosures that U.S. guards at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison physically
and sexually abused Iraqi prisoners.
MUSLIMS SKEPTICAL OF TURNAROUND
A senior U.S. administration official said embassy posts would be instructed to disseminate the
Newsweek retraction and try to convince Muslims that it is authentic and the original story was wrong.
Muslims in Afghanistan were skeptical about the turnaround on Monday.
"We will not be deceived by this," Islamic cleric Mullah Sadullah Abu Aman told Reuters. "It comes
because of American pressure." Aman was the leader of a group of clerics who vowed to call for a holy war against the United
States.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a close U.S. ally, said the report had caused a public outcry that
enabled enemies to orchestrate violence. He was displeased with the magazine's acknowledgment of error, his spokesman said.
Newsweek said in its May 23 edition that the information had come from a "knowledgeable government
source" who had said a military report on abuse at Guantanamo Bay had found interrogators had flushed at least one copy of
the Koran down a toilet in a bid to make detainees talk.
But the source later told the magazine he could not be certain he had seen an account of the Koran
incident in the military report and that it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts, Newsweek said.
A conservative media watchdog group, Accuracy in Media, said in a news release that "blood is on
the hands of Newsweek magazine" for the story. AIM editor Cliff Kincaid expressed incredulity that "nobody at Newsweek has
been fired or even reprimanded."
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman was asked whether the Pentagon could say definitively that U.S.
personnel never threw a Koran in a toilet at Guantanamo.
"You know, I never get into the business of saying never," Whitman said. "What I'm saying is that
this allegation that Newsweek made ... about Koran desecration is demonstrably false. And there have thus far been no credible
allegations of willful Koran desecration."
The Pentagon made available a January 2003 memo setting out rules for "handling and inspecting
of detainee Korans" at Guantanamo. It said U.S. personnel must "ensure that the Koran is not placed in offensive areas such
as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet, or dirty/wet areas."
Whitman said, "The unfortunate part about it is you can't go back and undo or retract the damage
that they've done not only to this nation but to those who have been attacked, injured and some even killed because of these
false allegations."
(Additional reporting by Larry Fine, Will Dunham, Paul Eckert, David Morgan and Arshad Mohammed)
******************
AP - 1 hour, 13 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.
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Media_Watch
_______________________________
Newsweek Apologizes for Quran Story Errors
By DINO HAZELL, Associated Press Writer 16 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.
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Newsweek says Koran desecration report is wrong
By David Morgan 2 hours, 28 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newsweek magazine said on Sunday it erred in a May 9 report that U.S. interrogators
desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, and apologized to the victims of deadly Muslim protests sparked by the article.
Editor Mark Whitaker said the magazine inaccurately reported that U.S. military investigators had confirmed
that personnel at the detention facility in Cuba had flushed the Muslim holy book down the toilet.
The report sparked angry and violent protests across the Muslim world from Afghanistan, where 16 were killed and more than 100 injured, to Pakistan to Indonesia to Gaza. In the past week it was condemned
in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and by the Arab League.
On Sunday, Afghan Muslim clerics threatened to call for a holy war against the United States.
"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 wrote in the magazine's latest issue, due to appear on U.S. newsstands
on Monday.
The weekly news magazine said in its May 23 edition that the information had come from a "knowledgeable government
source" who told Newsweek that a military report on abuse at Guantanamo Bay said interrogators flushed at least one copy of
the Koran down a toilet in a bid to make detainees talk.
But Newsweek said the source later told the magazine he could not be certain he had seen an account of the
Koran incident in the military report and that it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts.
Whitaker told Reuters that Newsweek did not know if the reported toilet incident involving the Koran ever
occurred. "As to whether anything like this happened, we just don't know," he said in an interview. "We're not saying it absolutely
happened but we can't say that it absolutely didn't happen either."
INCIDENT UNDER INVESTIGATION
The acknowledgment by the magazine came amid heightened scrutiny of the U.S. media, which has seen a rash
of news organizations fire reporters and admit that stories were fabricated or plagiarized.
The Pentagon told the magazine the report was wrong last Friday, saying it had investigated earlier allegations of Koran desecration
from detainees and found them "not credible."
Newsweek reported that Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita reacted angrily when the magazine asked about the
source's continued assertion that he had read about the Koran incident in an investigative report. "People are dead because
of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?" DiRita told Newsweek.
The May 9 report, which appeared as a brief item by Michael Isikoff and John Barry in the magazine's "Periscope"
section, had a huge international impact, sparking the protests from Muslims who consider the Koran the literal word of God
and treat each book with deep reverence.
Desecration of the Koran is punishable by death in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Newsweek, which said opponents of the Afghan government including remnants of the Taliban had used its report
to fan unrest in the country, said it was not contemplating disciplinary action against staff.
"This was reported very carefully, with great sensitivity and concern, and we'll continue to report on it,"
said Newsweek Managing Editor Jon Meacham. "We have tried to be transparent about exactly what happened, and we leave it to
the readers to judge us."
U.S. officials opened an investigation but maintained that members of the Guantanamo security force were sensitive
to the religious beliefs and practices of the detainees in U.S. custody.
U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley earlier on Sunday stressed the report had not been confirmed. "If it turns out to be true, obviously we will take
action against those responsible," Hadley said on CNN's "Late Edition."
Newsweek's Whitaker said that when the magazine first heard of the Koran allegation from its source, staff
approached two Defense Department officials. One declined to comment, while the other challenged a different aspect of the
May 9 story but did not dispute the Koran charge.
The magazine said other news organizations had already aired charges of Koran 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," Whitaker said.
"Our original source later said he couldn't be certain about reading of the alleged Koran incident in the
report we cited," he wrote.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20050516/ts_nm/religion_afghan_newsweek_dc
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During the Vietnam War, the American News Media constantly gave half-truths about American
Soldiers, Marines, Air Force and Sailors. The stories that they should have carried, they did not. PLEASE
PRESS THE LINK TO LEARN ABOUT THE DUC DUC RESETTLEMENT
VILLAGE MASSACRE
http://home.earthlink.net/~ducducvietnamfriends
These half-truths helped our enemy win. America can not let this happen again.
http://home.earthlink.net/~americans_who_lived_as_peasants
http://home.earthlink.net/~americans_working_together
http://home.earthlink.net/~american_families
http://home.earthlink.net/~americans_who_hate_america
http://home.earthlink.net/~proudcapmarine/proud-honorable-vietnam-veterans/
