In a seeming rush to besmirch our anti-terror efforts, Newsweek published a little tidbit that sparked riots, resulted in deaths and wreaked havoc on our efforts in multiple Islamic countries. Does it matter now if the story is either the result of very poor journalism or possibly completely wrong?
Newsweek magazine backed away Sunday from a report that U.S. interrogators desecrated copies of the Quran while questioning prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay naval base — an account blamed for sparking violent riots in Afghanistan.
At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured last week when thousands of demonstrators marched in Afghanistan and other parts of the Muslim world, officials and eyewitnesses said.
The Pentagon said last week it was unable to corroborate any case in which interrogators at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, defiled the Muslim holy book, as Newsweek reported in its May 9 issue.
“Top administration officials have promised to continue looking into the charges, and so will we,” Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker wrote in the magazine’s May 23 issue, out Sunday.
“But we regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst.”
Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita blamed Newsweek’s report for the unrest in Muslim countries.
“People are dying. They are burning American flags. Our forces are in danger,” he told CNN.
We are a nation at war with troops engaged in the field. Why are the mainstream media so eager to endanger lives and undermine any progress? Even with a shred of truth to the story, it should have been axed or, at the very least, shelved until it could be thoroughly investigated and possible ramifications of publishing could be considered. The fine folk at Newsweek now needlessly have blood on their hands, earned by their desire to run a hit on the American military and their lagging journalistic professionalism.
Others blogging on the matter:
Outside the Beltway
Michelle Malkin
The Mudville Gazette
Blackfive
The Jawa Report, here and here
Captain’s Quarters
Power Line, here and here
INDC Journal keeps it short and sweet here