To my mind, the most egregious element of the Newsweek affair is the ongoing reporting. I've only seen one article that related the KNOWN FACT that al Queda trains its terrorists to make just such allogations for propaganda purposes.
For the life of me, I'll never understand the American press.
May 18, 2005 -- "EUROPE is dying. Europe is in shackles. There is unemployment in double digits and zero growth." That was just one of Jack Welch's pronouncements yesterday at breakfast at '21' as Charlie Rose peppered him with questions in front of a crowd that included Ed Koch, Mario Cuomo, Georgette Mosbacher, William O'Shaughnessy, Kenneth Cole, Robert Zimmerman, Muriel Siebert, Cartier president Stanislas de Quercize and former Giants coach Allie Sherman. "Neutron Jack," who turned General Electric into the world's best-run company, also said: "Outsourcing is good for the American economy . . . I can see no basis for the euro being stronger than the dollar. The dollar has come up 15 percent in the last three weeks alone! . . . The U.S. economy is hot! The idea it isn't is crap! The media is the one that is portraying that the economy is dying and in crisis. The dollar will get back and regain its strength." Question from the floor: "What should Steinbrenner do about Jason Giambi?" Welch: "George Steinbrenner should fire Jason Giambi's ass, and get his ass off that team!" [PageSix]