Incendiary Koran claim may be false, editor admits

The Times ^ | May 16, 2005 | Roland Watson

[MadIvan]

THE incendiary account of US interrogators flushing a copy of the Koran down a toilet at Guantanamo Bay may not, after all, be true, the magazine behind the claim said.

The report in last week’s Newsweek sparked riots in Afghanistan that spread across the Muslim world, leading to the deaths of at least 14 people and injuries to more than 120.

In this week’s edition the magazine backtracks. “We regret that we got any part of our story wrong and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the US soldiers caught in its midst,” Mark Whitaker, the Editor, wrote in an editorial.

The report last week said that the claims about the Koran, which previously had been aired by other news organisations, would be validated by an inquiry report into the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. It was based on conversations with a senior American official who said that he had seen mention of the Koran incident in the report.

However, on checking with the source since publication, Newsweek said that the official no longer could be sure that they had remembered correctly.

When told of Newsweek’s new stance, Lawrence DiRita, the Pentagon spokesman, raged: “People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said.”

The Pentagon has been under mounting pressure to get to the bottom of the allegations as anti-American riots spread from Gaza to Kabul to Jakarta. The allegations also drew an official protest from Saudi Arabia, one of America’s most crucial allies in the Islamic world.

Yesterday, the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition organisation, demanded that the US apologise, as did Islamic leaders in Bangladesh. In Beirut, Lebanon’s top Sunni Muslim cleric called for an international investigation.

The episode has threatened to give Washington its biggest headache overseas since the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib.

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, said that mistreatment of the Koran was “abhorrent” to right-thinking Americans.

Despite Newsweek’s about-turn, the Pentagon has yet to state officially that no mistreatment of the Koran by interrogators took place at Guantanamo Bay, where the US has held 600 detainees in legal limbo for more than three years.

General Richard Myers Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that no evidence has yet been found to support the claims. Such allegations had been raised before Newsweek’s report. A lawyer for some Guantanamo inmates has blamed the attempted suicide of 23 of them in August 2003 on a US guard stamping on the Koran.

[gibonski]

You do not have to apologize.
Some people call themselves anal.

[joe_broadway]

Let's see....um..if I am a reporter and I know how psychopathic the Muslim world is over the least little thing...I think I will try to see if I can incite them to a frenzy to murder...yea, that's it. I will be considered a real hard-nosed, brave, tough reporter...er since no one will lay a hand on me for it...I'm not the culprit...get those American soldiers and available civillians...See how brave I am, look at me, look at me, besides, the left will always like me, they know I am one of them.

Bring back the stocks and the beatings just for this selfish little coward.

[andyandval]

[abclily]

Mark Whitaker regrets nothing. Newsweek did this on purpose. Deaths resulted from this published lie. Mark Whitaker and his kind enjoy causing mayhem and murder. They relish the power of causing anti-Americanism and death.

[weegee]

Try them for treason. They offer the same lying propaganda as John Kerry did before Congress and it served to build up the enemies against America.

[Shqipo]

Death toll of Abu Graib....zero.
Death toll due to Newsweaky article....Nine and counting.
....The pen is mightier than the sword.

I don't recall Newsweak and the MSM making any snorts of protest when Christian symbols are desecrated. As for the foreign protesters using the fabled flushing of a copy of the Quron as a reason for jihad, I guess they must agree that an appropriate response would be for Christians to nuke Mecca the next time PLO thugs desecrate the Church of the Nativity.
Heads need to roll, bigtime on this one.

[GVnana]

“People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said.”

My sentiments exactly.

[TexKat]

When told of Newsweek’s new stance, Lawrence DiRita, the Pentagon spokesman, raged: “People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said.”

And probably more will die.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Shocking, but not really surprising. The US "Old Media" are rapidly achieving the same credibility as the tabliods.

[Adiemus]

"I've never subscribed to stale and shallow hash-over rags like TIME and NewsWeek. Both publications are a waste of money. "

Just think how many trees these leftwats could save if they stopped printing this propoganda.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

what has gone un-noticed on this thread is that HERE WE GO AGAIN....while Christianity is under assault from every quarter imaginable, WE ARE DEFERRING AGAIN TO THIS EVIL "RELIGION" CALLED ISLAM....

[MattinNJ]

Why is this MSM media scum not being prosecuted for murder, but they prosecute Lt. Pantano?

Oh that's right, he's the elite media and the other guy is just some slob Marine.

[YHAOS]

>the utter hatred I have for these Democrat suckups<

Don’t become so emotionally invested in these schlubs. Contempt is our proper sentiment, and exposure is their proper fate.

Al Newsweek is beneath serious notice; the same as lunatic Islamic clerics.

[Lurker]

Isikoff should be prosecuted for inciting riots.

L

[King Prout]

to demonstrate the sincerety of their "sympathy" those who erred should immediately resign from Newsweek and from journalism entirely.

at the very least.

ritual seppuku would be better proof.

[sportutegrl]

When told of Newsweek’s new stance, Lawrence DiRita, the Pentagon spokesman, raged: “People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said.” People are dead because nutcase muslims went on a rampage and killed innocents who had nothing to do with the supposed destruction of the Koran or the Newsweek Article. Not that Newsweek should be let off the hook.

[Victoria Delsoul]

In this week’s edition the magazine backtracks. “We regret that we got any part of our story wrong and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the US soldiers caught in its midst,” Mark Whitaker, the Editor, wrote in an editorial.

Unbelievable! People are dead because of the insatiable and irresponsible sensationalism of the media, in this case Newsweek, to portray the military as savages, knowing full well that we're dealing with fanatics. Sympathies and apologies aren't enough. These people should be prosecuted starting with the individual who told such lies.

[Darkwolf]

You're right, but I definitely do get worked up when I see these people causing problems for our troops and then just shrugging, when they would be hounding any administration official to resign and be prosecuted if he were responsible for false information leading to deaths and future problems due to disinformation.

[Cacique]

I would like to see when Christians the world over loot, burn down buildings and riot violently over someone shoving a bible down the toilet. Ain't gonna happen, and there is the difference between them and us. They want any excuse to kill us and riot. We on ethe other hand would have some religious leaders make some innocuous comments of how shameful it was and then go on with our lives making a living and inventing things.

[goldstategop]

"Liberals lied, United States defamed." That'a blockbuster bumper sticker slogan Newsweek ought to live down.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)