Newsweek and Afghanistan

Unless you've been living the life of a mole
underground, oblivious to it all, you know that this
past week, Newsweek caught hell, and in a very real
sense the main stream media too, from the Bush
Administration for printing an unverifiable story
about prison guards desecrating the Arab holy book at
our prison site in Cuba. Never mind now that numerous
other sources, including the International Red Cross,
The Washington Post and The New York Times
have made the same charge on numerous occasions. The
Bush Administration blames the Newsweek piece for
causing the deadly reaction against Americans that
resulted in the death of 17 people in Afghanistan. The
question then is this: Are the Arabs reacting to the Newsweek
sentences?
(As a nine sentence paragraph in the Periscope section, it hardly qualifies as an article.)

Before we castigate Newsweek any
more, we'd be wise to remember some of the many
reasons this administration has given the Arab World
for hating us, and given the Bush Administration's
reaction to the offending sentence in Newsweek,
perhaps it would be wise to reconsider the damage done
by the hundreds of pictures taken in the Baghdad
prison depicting inhumane treatment of Arab prisoners,
or how about the brutal murder of prisoners in
Afghanistan? Is it possible that those incidents might
have triggered the violent response?

And then , as Frank Rich noted in the NYTimes, there is the
case of Rummy's right-wing Lt.
General William G. Boykin “. . .barnstorming American
churches making internationally publicized
pronouncements that his own Christian God is 'a real
god' and Islam's god is 'an idol.' " Lest you think
that the good general was merely expressing his views
as a private citizen, remember that he appeared in
fully dress uniform, giving the unquestioned
appearance of the Pentagon point of view. Now
really, who do you really think did more damage? The
General being broadcast all over the world on
international television or the actions of a couple punk prison guards
mentioned in Newsweek’s Periscope, and in fact the Newsweek piece went
unnoticed for a week or so. However we decide to apportion blame in
this matter, it is painfully obvious that ideas, actions and deeds do
have consequences. It is shortsighted beyond comprehension to believe
that it is only some obscure piece, tucked away in the Periscope section of Newsweek,
that attracts notice in the Arab world.

Davy Crockett

Update: This from the NYTimes: 26 March 2005

May 26, 2005
Documents Say Detainees Cited Abuse of Koran by Guards
By NEIL A. LEWIS

WASHINGTON, May 25 - Newly released documents show that detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, complained repeatedly to F.B.I. agents about disrespectful handling of the Koran by military personnel and, in one case in 2002, said they had flushed a Koran down a toilet.

The prisoners' accounts are described by the agents in detailed summaries of interrogations at Guantánamo in 2002 and 2003. The documents were among more than 300 pages turned over by the F.B.I. to the American Civil Liberties Union in recent days and publicly disclosed Wednesday.