Anyone remember Abu Ghraib?
White House spokesman Scott McClellan on Newsweek’s story about the alleged desecration of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay:
“The report has had serious consequences,” he said. “People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged.”
Can anyone say Abu Ghraib? Listening to the White House criticize Newsweek is akin to having Keith Richards self-righteously lecture you on the harms of smoking. Abu Ghraib, our extradition policy, the Iraq War, and the illegal detainment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have damaged our reputation abroad in a much more profound way.
I think the fact of the matter is that Newsweek nor any other publication should be posting stories like that… Suppose they had posted a story about Muslims in New York City burning bibles… what would the reaction have been? There wouldn’t have even been one… the fact of the matter is they wouldn’t post a story like that. News of the “attrocities” (oh my public humiliation) at Abu Ghraib are plastered all over tv and the newspapers, however when some man trying to earn extra money for his family by working in Iraq has his head chopped off by Muslim extremists he gets an 1/8 of a page in the daily news…
Of course the Newsweek story is troubling but the larger issue is the Bush administration’s total disregard of world opinion. From the Iraq war, to John Bolton, to careless words about the “axis of evil” and “the old Europe” there has been a pattern of disrespect to Muslims and all non-Americans. It was a travesty that Rumsfeld didn’t resign over Abu Ghraib. What’s the old saying… “Don’t point out a speck in a someone’s eye when there is a log in your own”
i love it, Newsweek (maybe Ratherweek is more appropriate now) publishes a story that inflames the Muslim world (not just Arabs) to the point where people ACTUALLY DIED and some suppossedly open-minded people here try to somehow turn it into an anti-US government story “what about Abu Ghraib…” Lets review, hoods on heads and a naked pile-on, in which the aftermath was 26 people Tried and Convicted in a military and civil court of law versus a story from a supossedly neutral magazine (what a laugh) that resulted in the deaths of rioters, put our soldiers lives in danger (you think Muslims tipsters are going to help us out when they believe we desecrated their most sacred book? or does being a liberal mean you only care about the lives of our troops during an election year?) and a further distortion of american policy and initiatives in the Muslim world. If this were Iran, the editors of Newsweek would have their heads on a stick… maybe those fundamentalists arent too far off the mark…
to hell with both Newsweek and the Republican party. Newsweek should know better than to publish a story like that based on hearsay, and the Bush Reich should stick a sock in their bleating gob about it – they’re one to talk – i agree with Free Willy. they’re a bunch of hypocrites and can stick it/J
and i agree with what David Sirota sez:
The White House’s response of “outrage” to the recent Newsweek story is truly a new milestone in hypocrisy for the Bush administration. Just look at their official response yesterday:
“It’s puzzling that while Newsweek now acknowledges that they got the facts wrong, they refused to retract the story,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. “I think there’s a certain journalistic standard that should be met and in this instance it was not…The report has had serious consequences. People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged.”
[Source]
The irony of this White House “outrage” at inaccuracies in light of all the lies about Iraq the Bush administration has fed America is really incredible. Here’s what the Democrats should say in response:
:
“It’s puzzling that while the White House now acknowledged that they haven’t found WMD or a link between Al Queda and Iraq, they have refused to retract their claims. I think there’s a certain standard of governing that should be met and in this instance has not. The claims the administration used to send this nation to war has had serious consequences. People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged.”
-David Sirota
http://www.davidsirota.com/
I’m wiping my ass with pages from the Koran as we speak.