I love this stuff. Newsweek regrets that the senior official cannot confirm his story that troops at Gitmo desecrated the Quran. Yet the white house wants full retraction.
Anyone else think there's a rat? He was able to confirm two weeks ago, and now he can't? Something tells me he's had some serious pressure.
.
"And then the Monkey's Eyes, become YOUR eyes!"
.
I'm always surprised when someone who I otherwise think is funny, smart, and well-written admits to liking Newsweek's spoken word, having read their books, and how powerful their work is and how much it means to them.
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I mean, if the shoe were on the other foot, Christian Yanks would be just as pissed. I think we can all understand the muslims' rage over this...
...can't we?
I can see Tom DeLay or James Dobson or Pat Robertson calling for a statement of remorse from a foreign national reported to have desecrated a Christian bible. However, call me gullible and naive, but I don't see G.W. crossing that line and calling for the perpetrator to be punished by the U.S. legal system. Something our man Karzai <a href="http://www.sundayherald.com/4978">has</a> done. Al Jazeera may be construed as anti-American, heck, some might argue that The Economist and The Guardian are as well. I don't hear a chorus of political leaders calling for them to be banned from public consumption in the U.S.
Which reminds me, this changes the tally slightly, however, the standings remain the same:
<b>Deaths Caused by Dubious Claims without Proper Verification</b>
<table border=1>
<tr>
<td>Rank
<td>Name
<td>Deaths
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1.
<td>Bush administration
<td>24,600 (a most conservative number, includes 1,500 US dead)
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2.
<td>Newseek
<td>15
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3.
<td>Dan Rather
<td>1 (Kerry's demise not entirely Rather's fault, but, what the hay)
</tr>
</table>
"Piss Christ" was (ostensibly) art. The Newsweek article and the treatment of POWs are certainly politics. As much as artists would like to think otherwise, I still think that politics are more powerful than the arts and provoke stronger reactions than the arts.
As for the 15 people dying in the riot, I would argue (possibly incorrectly, but I'm happy to go out on a limb - I was raised Baptist) that Southern Baptist protests against abortion clinics most certainly would have led to deaths if not for our (flawed, but still effective) infrastructure (police), which I'd imagine is far less effective and far more flawed in Afghanistan. American Christians only feel truly under fire where it comes to hot-button issues like abortion, so I think that their behavior in abortion clinic protests (that is, violent) is more indicative of how a devout group behaves when it feels its existence threatened and its beliefs undervalued.
If Al Jazeera were available at every American newspaper stand which sold international papers (which is true of Newsweek internationally - it's everywhere), I'd bet you dollars to donuts (mmm, donuts) that some Americans would call for it to come off the shelves. And unless American newspaper stands have changed drastically since New Year's, Al Jazeera isn't widely available. And come to think of it, seeing as it has such a broad readership, isn't that odd? You see the national papers of Spain, Germany, Japan, India, but not the newspaper which is read across the Arabic-speaking (-reading) world?
Edited to add: I do see where you're coming from, I'm just playing devil's advocate.
Al Jazeera isn't a great example because it's a satellite television station. Still, I'm sure it can viewed here in the U.S., somewhere.
I didn't consider that rioting deaths might be due to a lack of improper policing.
I don't think it's odd that Muslims are protesting and calling for news outlets to be banned. It happens in the U.S. all the time.
I think it's odd that the head of a government the U.S. is supporting (in the name of "spreading freedom") is asking that the desecrator of a book be brought to justice.
Here I'm assuming that justice be something more than whatever standard library fines would be.
Thank you for the article - an eye-opener! I am surprised (shocked might be too strong a word) that Karzai has asked for the Koran-desecrators to be put on trial. I imagine that I would not be surprised had he called for the US government to express remorse for its representatives having desecrated a book which is holy scripture to muslim people, and had he further used the opportunity to call attention to the treatment of the people themselves as being a more pressing concern than the disrespect shown for their faith. But you're right, and I think that Karzai's lack of political experience is showing here (another businessman-turned-politician). He was I'm sure offended by the maltreatment of the Koran, and spoke out of his own personal anger.
It also illustrates (or continues the prepondering evidence) how completely dunderheaded our intelligence services have been.
<b>CIA Officer:</b> These people hate us for our freewheeling, hedonistic lifestyle. So...
<b>Military Intelligence Officer:</b> Let's desecrate the one object they hold sacred!
<b>CIA Officer:</b> Excellent idea! That'll make 'em talk.
Too bad the DoD wasn't this sensitive when they decided that detaining innocent civilians, torturing and (sometimes) killing them was to be it's modus operandi in dealing with Islamic terrorists.
I'll also point out that the charges being "demonstrably false" have yet to be demonstrated.
So how is that "demonstrably false"? The Pentagon can't even lie correctly.
Hmmm, how about:
I'll also point out that the charges being "demonstrably false" have yet to be demonstrated false.
And it looks like they were right. Wimps...
Yes, and what was that excellent quote from Bush Jr. right after 9/11? Something along the lines of "We need better intelligence." Um, yes. Couldn't agree with you more on that issue, Georgie.
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...
“The report had real consequences,†White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Monday. “People have lost their lives. Our image abroad has been damaged. There are some who are opposed to the United States and what we stand for who have sought to exploit this allegation. It will take work to undo what can be undone.â€
McClellan said a retraction was only “a good first step†and said Newsweek should try to set the record straight by “clearly explaining what happened and how they got it wrong, particularly to the Muslim world, and pointing out the policies and practices of our military.â€
...
That's right, Scottie, "Our image abroad has been damaged". No shit.
Come again? It's Newsweek's responsibility to explain the Bush administrations policies and military practices to worldwide Muslims??!
Let me be clear: Newsweek completely screwed up if this report is founded entirely on hearsay.
Picked this up through TPM, so, I'm sure dawnbixtler has seen it. Maybe pamsterdam is interested.
That's a beautifully written piece, thanks tgl. Damned depressing, though. Is this how we treat human beings? As I said previously (kind of), I would expect Karzai to be much stronger in his calls for justice where it comes to the treatment of people rather than the treatment of holy writ. I hope I don't horrify anyone by saying this - I'm not trying to be contraversial - but doesn't this sound a little bit like a description of how the Nazis treated prisoners?
On a lighter note, the British army isn't having such problems with PR.
Evidently, those 15 dead Afghani protesters (I thought they were Pakistani?) have been tabulated by the White House only. Karzai (he of the "throw the book, but not <b>that</b> book, at 'em") doesn't back up this claim. Where does the truth lie?
WARNING: This next paragraph gets me into philosophical waters way over my head.
I need to rediscover the link to the weblog wherein the author argues that the neo-cons are fully embracing post-modern philosophy to further their claims on the "truth". Basically, by continually repeating what you want the public to believe, whether or not your claims are valid (WMD in Iraq, for example), will make that thing valid in the public mind. While at the same time, the neo-cons are derisive of anything classically associated with post-modernism. Derrida, for example.
This story just keeps getting more depressing.
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Well, at least we don't hack off people's heads.
Same thoughts from a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/irshad-manji/the-riots-in-jalalabad_1013.html">more lefty source</a>.
By the way, WSJ Opinion Journal isn't journalism. It's opinionism. Same goes for the NYT Op/Ed page.
someone else on this boards words, not mine
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I mean come on, I paid for some atrocity.
At least let me read about it.
The back of the ticket I received on Sept. 12th, 2001 reads: "Bearer entitled to inflict degradation and torture upon all bearded, brown skinned people."
I mean, how come I was'nt invited to The Quran Bonfire party?
WTF
I've enjoyed this whole story for almost 3 weeks now. Pathetic, I know... I'll go back to my cave now.
<a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-06-04-voa3.cfm">voa</a>