Blaming the Messenger (WPost)

[rodeodance]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/18/AR2005051800869.html



[e-mail]

Blaming the Messenger

By Anne Applebaum

Wednesday, May 18, 2005; Page A17

"It's appalling that this story got out there," said the secretary of state. "Shaky from the very get-go," thundered the White House spokesman. "We've not found any wrongdoing on the part of U.S. servicemembers," declared the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Outrage filled the airwaves this week as administration officials took turns denouncing Newsweek's brief report of alleged desecrations of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay. But among the many declarations of shock, shock, shock, among the multiple expressions of self-righteous horror at the riots the story sparked in Afghanistan, only one reflected any hint of self-reflection, any sense that this story might be more than just another mainstream media screw-up. "People need to be very careful about what they say," said the secretary of defense, " just as they need to be very careful about what they do."

Now, it is possible that no interrogator at Guantanamo Bay ever flushed pages of the Koran down the toilet, as the now-retracted Newsweek story reported -- although several former Guantanamo detainees have alleged just that. It is also possible that Newsweek reporters relied too much on an uncertain source, or that the magazine confused the story with (confirmed) reports that prisoners themselves used Korans to block toilets as a form of protest.

......Blaming the messenger, even for a bungled message, doesn't get the administration off the hook. Yes, to paraphrase Rumsfeld, people need to be very careful, not only about what they say but about what they do. And, yes, people whose military and diplomatic priorities include the defeat of Islamic fanaticism and the spread of democratic values in the Muslim world need to be very, very careful, not only about what they say but about what they do to the Muslims they hold in captivity.



But surely the larger point is not the story itself but that it was so eminently plausible, in Pakistan, Afghanistan and everywhere else. And it was plausible precisely because interrogation techniques designed to be offensive to Muslims were used in Iraq and Guantanamo, as administration and military officials have also confirmed. For example:.......

[rodeodance]

1. The difference between the Newsweek article and the other sourses

is that in the Newsweek article we supposedly had the miliary confirming the abuse of the Koran--while the other souces oftentimes quoted the detainees.

[Straight Shooter]

2. I ferverntly hope the media is looking at the WH phony outrage at Newsweek

and I hope they are saying to themselves, "You know what? The next time, it could be us."

Slavery of the media to the White House masters. It ain't a pretty sight.

[notadmblnd]

3. As someone else pointed out

why would the people of Afghanistan or Iraq or the entire muslim world be outraged that this story got out? Seems to me they would be thankful that US interrogation policies were made known to the world.

The whole thing is another staged event to distract from more important events.

[daleo]

4. No doubt there is a Pentagon document that confirms this.

It will take some digging to find it, maybe through freedom of information, if any media has the resources and courage to go after it. Given the photographic and documentary evidence of the other tortures and abuses (waterboarding anybody?), who thinks the military's scruples would not include dropping a Koran in a bucket of shit?

[TheFarseer]

5. The Newsweek source was from someone in the government

I heard the source gave them this story and then backed off it after it was published. Do you suppose they did this on purpose to silence criticism of the war and Gitmo torture? Cause I do!

[Demit]

6. Surprisingly good story by Ann Applebaum

who otherwise shills for the administration, IIRC.