Actions have consequences - Newsweek apologizes for Quran story
POSTED BY: Geezer
UPDATED: Friday, May 27, 2005 09:51
VIEWED: 3791
PAGE 1 of 3
Sorry about the dead and injured, folks. Our bad.
Quote:
NEW YORK (AP) - Newsweek magazine has apologized for errors in a story alleging that interrogators at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Quran, saying it would re-examine the accusations, which sparked outrage and deadly protests in Afghanistan.
Fifteen people died and scores were injured in violence between protesters and security forces, prompting U.S. promises to investigate the allegations.
"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," Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker wrote in a note to readers.
http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=104&sid=519505
And from Newsweek.
Quote:
How did NEWSWEEK get its facts wrong? And how did the story feed into serious international unrest? While continuing to report events on the ground, NEWSWEEK interviewed government officials, diplomats and its own staffers, and reconstructed this narrative of events...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7857407/site/newsweek/
and from the same article...
Quote:
Extremist agitators are at least partly to blame, but obviously the reports of Qur'anic desecration touch a particular nerve in the Islamic world.
Duh. Do ya think? Then maybe you should make damn sure of your facts before making such accusations, maybe?
"Keep the Shiny side up"
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
You'd think that given the extremely tenuous nature of the situation in Afghanistan, people would be much more thorough in checking out this kind of story.
In America, you could burn a Bible and Christians wouldn't riot. They'd be upset, but I doubt that violence would ensue.
But in strongly Muslim-majority countries without freedom of religion (like Saudi Arabia or Taliban-era Afghanistan) things like this are taken much more seriously. They see this sort of thing not as merely destroying a copy of the Qu'ran, but as an affront to Islam and the Umma in general and themselves in particular. Having spent some time in Oman, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq, I've seen how deeply held these beliefs are.
This was just shoddy journalism on Newsweeks part. Knowing the potential repurcussions of publishing such a story (not just in terms of loss of life but also a loss of what little credibility America has in Muslim nations) you'd think that Newsweek would have been much more careful about it. They ought to be ashamed of themselves for contributing to the deaths of the Afghans, for the weakening of our image and for the loss of influence we have in that fledgling democracy.
_______________________________________________
I wish I had a magical wish-granting plank.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
The problem is Newsweek saying " our bad " still doesn't mean it didn't happen, critics will say they are trying to brush the issue aside by accepting blame for what may or may not have actually happened.
Investigations by the US military also will always hold doubt, how can an organization be responsible to investigate themselves with serious self interest question on the line.
These are just some of the reasons why the International Red Cross, etc are there to monitor the condition and treatment of prisoners. When the US government started this " illegal combatant " nonsense, they not only declared themselves above international law, but also exposed themselves to problems like this.
When you try to make up the rules to suit yourself, the truth becomes irrelavant.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
" People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now? "
Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita, quoted by Newsweek
Hmmmmmmmm
Is he talking about the Newsweek reporter ? , or perhaps either Bush or Blair on the WMD issue.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by GinoBiffaroni:
The problem is Newsweek saying " our bad " still doesn't mean it didn't happen, critics will say they are trying to brush the issue aside by accepting blame for what may or may not have actually happened.
At least I didn't title the thread "Newsweek LIED about Quran flushing" based on one rather cryptic sentence in a so far unverified memo, like some around here would.
Let's see how things turn out, instead of rushing to judgement.
"Keep the Shiny side up"
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Geezer:
At least I didn't title the thread "Newsweek LIED about Quran flushing" based on one rather cryptic sentence in a so far unverified memo, like some around here would.
ROFLMMFAO!!
Quote:
Let's see how things turn out, instead of rushing to judgement.
You know this only works one way, right? If Bush seems to be doing something bad, it's rush-to-judgment time. But if someone of *ahem* a different political stripe, let's just wait and see what the evidence says. Hypocrites.
_______________________________________________
I wish I had a magical wish-granting plank.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I dunno..I think both sides tend to rush to judgement and spin it to meet their own ends.
This is just another example of poor journalism. A race to see who can put out the biggest story, whether or not it is fully substantiated. I think that there should also be a higher level of journalistic responsibility.
In my opinion making the Quran flushing an issue in this article AND embellishing it, just points to a desire to inflame the Middle East and devout muslims. It's no different then showing an American burning an American flag ( It used to cause an uproar in the US..now folks can't be bothered to care).
There are no journalistic standards anymore. It used to be that you could read an article and "believe" it had integrity. Now, I can't think of a single news piece that I have read where I didn't first determine what bent it was followed by a healthy dose of skepticism.
PS.. Armageddon is upon us. Hillary and Newt are buddies. You tell me that isn't frightening ROFLMAO.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Ah Geezer- ever the defender of the military, the police, the coporations, and the powerful.
You know, I would be more appreciative of this thread if the news media had ALSO issued multiple mea culpas for the lousy reporting on the rush to war, WMD, the Medicare fiasco, the (lack of) reporting on the "Bush lied" UK memo, and all the other half*ssed/ biased/ sloppy reporting that they've done in the past six years on behalf of a pathological administration. Judith Miller of the NY Times, for example, just took Chalabi's fantasies about WMD and spewed them all over the NY Times without any verification whatsoever, and those stories put considerable weight behind the invasion. (Never mind that Chalabi had already been discredited by the CIA.)
www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_
id=1000523774
Now Newsweek gets all squirmy about it's story, which may have caused 15 deaths and may be true. What about the USA military and Iraqi dead? Did you know, for example, that the number of USA military casualties from Bush's Mideast Adventure is over 6000, NOT 1500?? In a break from previous reporting, the military command has decided that if the wounded die on their way to Germany, or in the German hospital they are not counted by the military as having died "in" Iraq. THAT'S why "they" don't want pix of the coffins coming home- it might be too easy to get an accuate body count! Cute, huh?
I'll be waiting for an apology on that little item, but I won't be holding my breath.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Ah Geezer- ever the defender of the military, the police, the coporations, and the powerful.
Funny, I always considered Newsweek part of "...the corporations, and the powerful."
"Keep the Shiny side up"
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Oh please Geezer, I knew you would say that... except when they're trumped by Bush & Co.
Let's see- you couldn't decide if the commandment was about "killing" or "murder". You identify with Mal and and Zoe because of their "optimism" but kind of miss their relationship with authority. You are all tweaked about the 15 dead due to THIS story, but not about the 6000+ dead in Iraq. (Your first line would work even better about the WMD coverage.) You support "our troops" except when they're getting killed, in which case you support the command structure all the way up to that lying SOB in office.
Do you make a POINT of missing the point?
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME