Pentagon denies Qu'ran claims

[cal04]

The US defence department on Tuesday denied accusations by former Guantanamo inmates that Qu'ran holy books had been desecrated at the "war on terror" detention camp. "In the allegations of released detainees, we have found nothing to substantiate these types of investigations," Pentagon chief spokesperson Larry DiRita said.

"They were not specific and remarkably contrary to the way we try to manage these issues. We don't believe they are true," he said. He added that it was "likely" the former inmates were lying. "Detainees who are released make all manner of statements." DiRita said the accusations have not been the investigated because of the lack of credibility, but that a wide-ranging review of interrogations at the detention camp in Cuba was underway.

"There might be instances where the Qu'ran may have fallen to the floor while searching a cell, offending a detainee," DiRita said. He referred to a 2003 Pentagon memo which said the Qu'ran had to be treated with "great respect".

Several Britons who had been held at US military prisons in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay alleged on Monday that they had seen US guards desecrate the Qu'ran. Other former prisoners have made similar allegations.
Newsweek magazine on Monday retracted a report on the descretation of a Qu'ran at Guantanamo, which triggered protests in Afghanistan that left at least 14 dead.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1706587,00.html

[Darranar]

1. Reality doesn't exist. Trust us. n/t

[Selteri]

2. No news here, it's only been in the news since 2003! NT

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. They torture, rape, humiliate, and murder, but

they'd never desecrate a holy book...

[daleo]

4. Non-denial denial.

Not "the allegations are not true", but "we don't believe they are true". This seems to be the latest technique of appearing to deny something but not actually doing so. McCain used it the other day too.

And the "there may be instances where it fell to the floor" is a statement that would be used to cover any eventuality. "Whoops, dropped it in the toilet (5 times in 5 minutes). Accidents happen."

By their non-denials you know the truth.

[Solly Mack]

5. You deny torture too...so what's your point?

[knowbody0]

6. im thinking

some of our "guards" will soon speak up

[teryang]

7. This is a well know interrogation technique

The descecration of dearly held symbols. The chances of the reports being false are virtually nil. The Newsweek debacle is disinformation, part of a campaign of denial.

[cliss]

8. At this moment, Lawrence Di Rita

is sitting in his living room, with a double martini in his hand. He's got a green olive laying on the bottom.

He thinks over the amazing events of the day. Di Rita feels sure that everything will settle down now. He made sure to point out that the "former inmates were lying". He pointed a big, fat finger at NewsWeek. He got plenty of help from RumsFailed, CondaLoser, but complete silence from Einstein.

So far, so good, as he drinks the last of his martini. He knows these are dangerous times. Shit, it's the whole muslim world that's watching.

He starts to sweat again, at the thought. "Shit", he thinks. We got the damn article about 3 weeks ago. "Why didn't they do something then?"

He knows the answer. "Because we didn't think it was important".

My, how things can change. Little, inconsequential crap gets blown out of proportion, and the big stuff gets ignored. "You just can never figure people out", he thinks.

Tomorrow's another day.

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. Apparently nobody had a camera, so it didn't happen.

[Zorra]

10. Now we know why they need heavy duty $3,000 toilet seats at the Pentagon -

lotsa folks there are full of shit.