Posted on 05/15/2005 12:19:05 PM PDT by rface
Scott Johnson of Powerline has a post on Newsweek's internal investigation into how Michael Isikoff and John Barry's story on the copy of a Qur'an being flushed down a toilet - a story that now appears to have no basis in fact - made it into the magazine's "Periscope" section.
Late last week Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita told NEWSWEEK that its original story was wrong. The brief periscope item ("SouthCom Showdown") had reported on the expected results of an upcoming U.S. Southern Command investigation into the abuse of prisoners at Gitmo. According to NEWSWEEK, SouthCom investigators found that Gitmo interrogators had flushed a Qur'an down a toilet in an attempt to rattle detainees. While various released detainees have made allegations about Qur'an desecration, the Pentagon has, according to DiRita, found no credible evidence to support them.
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:
Scott sums it up nicely:
So Isikoff relied on a telephone call with an anonymous government official paraphrasing a forthcoming report, confirmed by placing a draft of the Periscope item before another anonymous government official. Isikoff never saw the underlying report or even had it read to him.
And this is what passes for "journalism" at Newsweek.
The magazine's critique, written by Evan Thomas, finds something even more startling:
On Friday night, Pentagon spokesman DiRita called NEWSWEEK to complain about the original periscope item. He said, "We pursue all credible allegations" of prisoner abuse, but insisted that the investigators had found none involving Qur'an desecration. DiRita sent NEWSWEEK a copy of rules issued to the guards (after the incidents mentioned by General Myers) to guarantee respect for Islamic worship. On Saturday, Isikoff spoke to his original source, the senior government official, who said that he clearly recalled reading investigative reports about mishandling the Qur'an, including a toilet incident. But the official, still speaking anonymously, could no longer be sure that these concerns had surfaced in the SouthCom report. Told of what the NEWSWEEK source said, DiRita exploded, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?"
This is an everyday occurence in Washington. An "anonymous source" curries favor with the media by exaggerating or even making up out of whole cloth incidents or quotes that reflect badly on someone else. Who knows what this guy's axe is. The fact that he's bactracking from his story immediately after the riots indeed raises the question "How could he be credible now?"
Isikoff is an experienced investigative reporter. He made his bones breaking the Lewinsky scandal back in the 1990's. The life blood of most investigative journalists has now become "anonymous" or "unnamed" sources. Until Watergate, such sources were used sparingly and judiciously by the press for the obvious reason that if someone wasn't willing to "go on the record" the chances are there were other motives involved for the source talking to the press in the first place. The motives could be personal, sexual, political, or the simple need for attention.
And Evan Thomas does a poor job of trying to explain how this questionable information got into his magazine in the first place. Scott has an observation about that:
Like Lawrence DiRita, I have a question of my own for NEWSWEEK. Is this how an elite newsmagazine confesses error and corrects the record when it makes a big mess?
On a related note, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs takes issue with our government's response:
Perhaps even more disgusting than this display of violent irrationality from the RoP (Religion of Peace) is our own government’s rush to appease, even before any facts are discovered. The Newsweek article isn’t the only reason this madness is continuing to spiral out of control; when the US’s first reaction is to apologize and abase ourselves in the face of thuggish Dark Ages behavior, what else should we expect? Weakness invites attack.
I agree wholeheartedly. We should have waited until the Pentagon at least had completed a preliminary investigation (finished Saturday) and then denied the Qur'an incident in the strongest possible language. By leaving the door open to the idea that the incident is true, we've allowed our enemies to stir up the Arab street against us. Now we have the prospect of having to deal with things
The clerics in the northeastern province of Badakhshan said they wanted President Bush to handle the matter honestly “and hand the culprits over to an Islamic country for punishment.”
“If that does not happen within three days, we will launch a jihad against America,” said a statement issued by about 300 clerics, referring to Muslim holy war, after meeting in the main mosque in the provincial capital, Faizabad.
(HT: LGF)
I doubt whether this issue is going to go away anytime soon. And just like with Abu Ghraib with everyone who ever set foot in that prison being tortured, every poor little terrorist who found himself incarcerated by the US will weep about the desecration of the Qur'an that the infidel's forced him to watch.
The hell of it is, the moonbat left will pick up on this and once again make common cause with the enemies of the United States.
Rick Moran blogs at Rightwing Nuthouse.
Story posted to BNN 5/15/2005 11:26:26 AM
This looks like a DRUDGE type story - but I don't see it on his page anywhere.......but I did see this:
Isikoff is an experienced investigative reporter. He made his bones breaking the Lewinsky scandal back in the 1990's........
I am sure Drudge likes it when Isikoff gets the big credit for the Lewinsky story. Ha!
Nam Vet
Newsweek LIED and People Died!
Yep - these idiots in the MSM don't seem to understand that when they print lies (born our of their breathless hatred of Bush), people get killed. Will they do anything to correct the matter now?
Send the Newsweak team to Afghanistan on a fact finding mission ...
I cannot wait to see how the NY Times and the WAPO cover this Monday AM...it is a HUGE story. It should be above the fold with a two column (at least) headline. Let's see.
All this as I remember from following the story in the news and on Drudge.
Time to bring charges against them.
Pentagon Spokesperson DiRita exploded, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said."
Friggin prissy. People did NOT die from what any SOB said. People are dead because THUGS decided to use their bastard conception of religion as an excuse to slaughter.
Thankfully, LGF's post -- quoting the vile mullahs of Hate -- makes quite clear the mindset.
Somebody's a** should get fired.
Perhaps Newsweek could have CBS News gin up some memo backing their story.
What's REALLY convoluted is how the US Gov't is bending over forward and backwards to "respect" the Islamic religion,
going out of its way to insure prisoners are given Halal meat, etc. Imagine if these prisoners were Christians? How fast would the ACLU sue to stop the practice of accomodating the religion of Christianity?
Again I disagree. If we had a real CIA as good as Hillary's hit squad Isikoff would have a walk in the Ft, Marcy park.
I suggest we send them "Isacaught".
So, when the enemy fires from inside mosques, we should riot and kill anyone looking Arabic, right??? Will Kristl get the credit then? Blaast em till they sue for peace. Works great! Every time!!!
To the editing and writing staff of Newsweek,
Congratulations on your publication in Periscope concerning Korans being flushed down toilets by U.S. interrogators and your subsequent apology, stating that this story may have not been supported by fact. Congratulations again, for the deaths and rioting resulting from your due diligence and journalistic integrity in reporting this story. Congratulations for providing the Moslem world with more fodder, which will be used to recruit more jihadists to kill the infidels. Congratulations for any future deaths of Americans and others in the world that will result from your loose-lipped arrows of truth. Congratulations on your apology, which comes after arrow has left bow and the damage that results cannot be undone. Thank you so much for being sorry. You, of all people should know that words are a powerful weapon, and once they have been unleashed, they cannot be called back no matter how sorry you claim to be. Aside from the deaths and riots your journalistic work has already accomplished, congratulations also for this:
FAIZABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- A group of Afghan Muslim clerics have threatened to call for a holy war against the United States in three days unless it hands over military interrogators reported to have desecrated the Quran.
The warning on Sunday came after 16 Afghans were killed and more than 100 hurt last week in the worst anti-U.S. protests across the country since U.S. forces invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.
The clerics in the northeastern province of Badakhshan said they wanted U.S. President George W. Bush to handle the matter honestly "and hand the culprits over to an Islamic country for punishment."
"If that does not happen within three days, we will launch a jihad against America," said a statement issued by about 300 clerics, referring to Muslim holy war, after meeting in the main mosque in the provincial capital, Faizabad.
It’s fun to play God. Don’t you agree?
Jonh Major
El Dorado, CA
Thanks for the ping!
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