Posted on 05/18/2005 8:49:25 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Newsweek retracts story but the liberal media says it's probably true anyway and points the finger at the bullies in the administration.
Newsweek has rejected the resignation of Michael Isikoff, which is probably the correct thing to do. Although the fabricated story was written by Isikoff, it was Newsweek that published the libel and it is Newsweek that is responsible for the deaths in Afghanistan.
But all the big shots at Newsweek were innocent. In the case of the Koran item, Newsweek Managing Editor Whitaker said he did not see the final version because he was traveling on personal business. Managing Editor Jon Meacham said he was out of town for an interview and for the White House Correspondents Association dinner.
Now, the mainstream press press is circling the wagons and coming to the defense of their colleagues at Newsweek. And in their analysis and reporting of Toiletgate, the liberal media is employing the Dan Rather/Memogate technique of denying any culpability while repeating the libel and slander endlessly. The press is defending Newsweek with one of two theories. The first is al Qaeda doesn't lie. The second is it's not Newsweek's fault.
The folks adhering to the first theory have adopted the position that when it comes to deciding who to believe, they'll stick with al Qaeda.
CNN's Anderson Cooper: "Is it beyond the realm of possibility that a tactic like this was used?"
CNN terrorism expert Peter Bergen: "It's not just the British detainees who've reported this (the Koran flush). Other detainees have reported this. So, you know, I think it's still an open question."
CBS Evening News' anchor Bob Schieffer: "In any case, Newsweek's decision to retract the report is not likely to make much difference to outraged Muslims. For them, the damage has been done, and it can't easily be undone."
CBS' Richard Roth: "Detainees released in 2003 came home claiming American guards had routinely provoked them by sitting on the Koran, or putting pages in a toilet."
CBS Evening News' John Roberts: "The report does mirror claims made by former Guantanamo detainees that they were subject to religious harassment."
On ABC's Nightline, Eric Saar, co-author of "Inside the Wire": "I don't believe there was the proper amount of respect given to Islam, in the camp, especially in the interrogation booth."
The folks accepting "the devil made me do it" hallucination blames the Bush Administration and acquits Newsweek. Notice, the liberal media spin on the Newsweek retraction. It doesn't place the focus on the fact the story was false. The focus is on the "pressure applied by the administration."
New York Times reported the following, "After a drumbeat of criticism from the Bush administration and others, Newsweek magazine yesterday went beyond an apology it issued Sunday and retracted an article published May 1, that stated that American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had tried to rattle Muslim detainees by flushing a Koran down a toilet."
The Washington Post, "Newsweek issued a formal retraction yesterday of the flawed story that sparked deadly riots in Afghanistan and other countries, after the magazine came under increasingly sharp criticism from White House, State Department and Pentagon officials."
Craig Crawford of Congressional Quarterly and CBS News charged that the Bush administration may well have "set up the news media": "The government had the opportunity to see this report before it was published -- and passed. This is a pattern we've seen before."
CBS's Bob Schieffer: "Good evening. I am Bob Schieffer. Under pressure from the White House, Newsweek today retracted a story that led to deadly rioting in Afghanistan."
ABC's World News Tonight. Martha Raddatz: "In the many places where the article caused so much anger, people today were skeptical about the Newsweek admission, feeling the magazine had simply buckled under U.S. government pressure."
ABC Nightline's John Donvan: "It would certainly be convenient to say that all this is Newsweek's fault. The problem is, America also has a credibility problem in the Muslim world."
ABC Nightline's Chris Bury speculated: "Do you think the volume of the protests [from Bush administration officials] is, perhaps, a bit calculated to deflect some attention away from the policies at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo?"
Bury followed up: "But given the other abuses, I guess what I'm getting at here is, does Newsweek deserve all the blame," for the violent reaction, "assuming that its story was incorrect?"
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann: "Something smells funny to me about this Newsweek apology, then retraction. Do you sense the same thing? And what the heck are we smelling?"
These thoughts and opinions come from "responsible journalists." You ought to read the unbelievably insane rants coming from the loony-left on the Internet. The mainstream medai forgives Newsweek for its shoddy journalism and accepts the al Qaeda's version of events. As long as they can continue to hammer the administration, they will suspend all rational thought.
The press has been screwed ever since Woodward and Bernstein invented "Deep Throat" and ushered in the age of "Gotcha Journalism." The only problem with this form of yellow journalism is that it's only applied to Republican governments. When Bill Clinton was serially abusing American women and Hillary was running scams out of the White House, the press was not only silent, but complicit.
Now we are at war and because the administration is Republican, the press has taken sides. And the liberal press has decided to side with the terrorists, adopting the old Muslim adage, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
I've always known whos side they are on.
This is the standing order for AQ terrorists, to continue their struggle by means of propaganda?
Have any MSM reported this widely known fact yet, as part of the flushed Koran story?
A simple suggestion for Mr. Isikoff that would clear the entire situation up: http://www.aphf.org/stocks.gif
You cannot unring the bell, as Newsweek well knows. They have done their duty and are protected under the Free Press clause in the US Constitution. Americans have seen Newsweek and will lose plenty before it's over.
Shame on our government for showing weakness before the enemy.
Good point. They all share the goal of destroying America.
bump
bump!
Those that write such books need to apologize;
Those that kill for them have no apology.
The media still thinks Nixon is in the White House and were still fighting in Viet Nam.
Thanks anyway! Ann is DYNAMITE! ...doesn't ever pull her punches!
Char :)
Joe McCarthy was right....
Right, and we are to believe those who feel that it is their duty to lie for the advancement of Islam.
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