Anger seethes over Quran allegation

[zippy]

Anyone see any major news print media condemn Newsweek? Neither did I. Despicable. If the media were trully pro-American, or even simply just intellectually honest, they would have called for some firings. If this story had been true, every news outlet would have called for everyone in the chain of command to be fired. But since it was NEWSWEEK who screwed up, no condemnation.

IMO, No news organization is going to condemn another one for messing up a story... because they could be the next one to botch an important story. For them to do so would be foolish, and unprofessional.

 

[Cate]

Sorry. That was possibly harsh on my part.

As always, more and more information comes out as time goes by. In this case, it was revealed that a) the single source used was an upper-level government official who had proved reliable in the past and who didn't retract his story until nearly two weeks after the article was published, b) that he didn't even retract the reports of desecration, but only his memory of where he read the reports, c) that the Pentagon saw the article beforehand (which they rarely get to do) and didn't refute any of it, and d) General Myers himself said that the riots in Afghanistan were likely not caused by the Newsweek article.

In light of all of that, I'm not thinking that Newsweek is in a heads-rolling situation, outside of the reporter himself getting seriously burned.

 

[Fly Navy]

d) General Myers himself said that the riots in Afghanistan were likely not caused by the Newsweek article.

Then what's the deal with people holding signs with Arab issues of Newsweek mentioning the article? They look angry to me.

 

[zippy]

Then what's the deal with people holding signs with Arab issues of Newsweek mentioning the article? They look angry to me.

Probably being funded by religiously conservative Pakistani/Saudi groups, among others who have interests contrary to the Americas and are using this as another excuse to further them.

 

[Cate]

Then what's the deal with people holding signs with Arab issues of Newsweek mentioning the article? They look angry to me.

I'm not saying that it didn't upset people. But blaming the riots on Newsweek is like standing in a front yard soaked with gasoline and then pointing a finger at the guy who walked by with a lit cigarette.

 

[Fly Navy]

I'm not saying that it didn't upset people. But blaming the riots on Newsweek is like standing in a front yard soaked with gasoline and then pointing a finger at the guy who walked by with a lit cigarette.

Then who is to blame? Newsweek bears responsibility, but who else? (Honest questions, I've been too busy to look indepth in this story).

 

[Cate]

Then who is to blame? Newsweek bears responsibility, but who else? (Honest questions, I've been too busy to look indepth in this story).

The honest answer is that the rioters are to blame. Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita said on Saturday that "the nature of where these things occurred, how quickly they occurred, the nature of individuals who were involved in it, suggest that they may be organized events that are using this alleged allegation as a pretext for activity that was already planned" (AP story) I'm guessing that Zippy has it right - Saudi or Pakistani or even resurging Taliban groups worked everyone up and just needed an excuse to set them off.

 

[Fly Navy]

The honest answer is that the rioters are to blame. Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita said on Saturday that "the nature of where these things occurred, how quickly they occurred, the nature of individuals who were involved in it, suggest that they may be organized events that are using this alleged allegation as a pretext for activity that was already planned" (AP story) I'm guessing that Zippy has it right - Saudi or Pakistani or even resurging Taliban groups worked everyone up and just needed an excuse to set them off.

Hmm, it's plausible, considering it's happened here at home plenty of times.

 

[A4sForever]

I'm a simple guy -- meat & potatoes .... Re: Newsweek .... for me .... this is the bottom line:
___________________________________________________________________

If the Qu'ran allegations were true ..... why would they publish them ???

If the Qu'ran allegations were false .... why would they publish them ???

 

[Brett327]

I'm not saying that it didn't upset people. But blaming the riots on Newsweek is like standing in a front yard soaked with gasoline and then pointing a finger at the guy who walked by with a lit cigarette.

That's a horrible analogy.

Brett

 

[Cate]

That's a horrible analogy.

Brett

Expound.

 

[wink]

I agree with Brett. Is Newsweek supposed to be the idiot that dumped gasoline on himself and stood in the front yard so everyone in the neighborhood could see just how stupid he was, or is Newsweek the irresponsible neighbor that walks by a man smelling of gasoline with a lit cigarette?

While there is always a chance some Paki or Saudi group will stir the pot, that doesn't explain the rioting and demonstrations in places like Indonesia.

 

[Cate]

Newsweek is the irresponsible neighbor. The area was ripe for a disturbance; the biggest thing going on at the time was people protesting President Karzai for including former Taliban supporters in his cabinet, as two separate Pentagon officials have pointed out.

The metaphor was just to point out that the entire region has been wallowing in particular unrest for weeks now, with some individuals and groups purposely stirring the pot. When the story hit, it went up like a gas station on fire. Newsweek could and should have expected that the story would cause a great deal of upset (that their cigarette could start a fire), but they couldn't have reasonably expected that international protest and death would follow (that the yard would be soaked in gasoline). After all, Indonesians weren't rioting in the streets after the Abu Ghraib scandal came out; why would they after this, unless there were other aggravating factors?

 

[skidkid]

Naivety is not really a defense for an international new magazine. I think at the very least they knew this story would make the jobs and safety of all Americans in the middle east harder and less secure. Even if the story was true it was irresponsible to print it. This wasnt Abu Ghraib where conditions did improve for the prisoners(as a result of the reporting) because there were things that were wrong going on there, this was purely inflammatory peice and not one person's life would be improved by this story being printed, The blame for this rests squarely on Newsweek.
I agree there is always unrest in the middle east but a little responsible journalism would be appreciated.

 

[zippy]

Newsweek could and should have expected that the story would cause a great deal of upset (that their cigarette could start a fire), but they couldn't have reasonably expected that international protest and death would follow (that the yard would be soaked in gasoline). After all, Indonesians weren't rioting in the streets after the Abu Ghraib scandal came out; why would they after this, unless there were other aggravating factors?

They most certainly could have and should have expected some international protest over such an article. Especially in the wake of the protest/outcry that has occured after other news articles (Especially Abu Ghraib and the other recent stories) The time for stepping out of fantasy land- where actions have no consequences, passed long ago. Newsweek should have thought that outcry over what was depicted in the story would occur. Im going to guess that they probably did- after all, they probably wouldn't have wrote on the topic, or let the story make it to print if they didn't think it would be a ratings getter.

Why would Indonesians be in the streets after this and not after Abu Ghraib??? Even though they are Asian, they are Muslim and this (the destruction of the Qur'an) is an this is an issue that affects ALL Muslims regardless of background. The Abu Ghraib story was not about the treatment of Muslims, although it was sometimes spun that way , it was about treatment/abuse of prisoners.

Americans tend to forget that the rest of the world isn't as short sighted as they are. This issue may fade from our minds in a few months, but the Muslim world will remember it far longer- and with them, one negative thing like this can cancel many of the positive things that we've done.