Representative Press Blog

But was the Newsweek story about the Quran actually wrong?

Mainstream Media News of Newsweek's retraction often leaves out important facts.

Where did Newsweek get the report that American interrogators put copies of the Quran on toilets and in one case, flushed one down a toilet come from? From a senior government source. Newsweek also ran it by DOD official who did not call for the story about desecration of the Quran to be removed.

Isn't the real story that a senior government source "got it wrong". And why are so many people so quick to believe that this senior government source actually "got it wrong" and not that he changed his story because of all the negative reaction. Notice that the detail about where the story came from is not made clear in most of the mainstream media.

Why are so many people willing to believe the story was false? Isn't it more likely that the senior government source has simply backed away from the story because of the pressure?

Looks like I am not the only one not buy the retraction: "This is a decision by America to save itself. It comes because of American pressure. Even an ordinary illiterate peasant understands this and won't accept it," says Islamic cleric Mullah Sadullah Abu Aman.

Keep in mind what Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker has said the information about the Quran desecration came from "a knowledgeable U.S. government source,"

DINO HAZELL Associated Press Writer Dino Hazell writes, "Whitaker says that the magazine's information came from "a knowledgeable U.S. government source," and before it published the item, writers Michael Isikoff and John Barry sought comment from two Defense Department officials. One declined to respond, and the other challenged another part of the story but did not dispute the Quran charge, Whitaker said.

But on Friday, a top Pentagon spokesman told the magazine that a review of the military's investigation concluded "it was never meant to look into charges of Quran desecration. The spokesman also said the Pentagon had investigated other desecration charges by detainees and found them 'not credible.'"

Whitaker added that the magazine's original source later said he could not be sure he read about the alleged Quran incident in the report Newsweek cited, and that it might have been in another document."

Note that the senior government source isn't saying that the story is false! Is the mainstream media making this clear?

Like I said, this isn't the first report of this kind of thing. There have been verified reports of abusing Muslims.

Verified: "An FBI agent saw a prisoner draped with an Israeli flag, accompanied by loud music and flashing strobe lights."

(The "New York Times story on the FBI documents neglects to mention this torture-by-Israeli-flag" )

Link to that FBI document

Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker also said, "Although other major news organizations had aired charges of Qur'an desecration based only on the testimony of detainees, we believed our story was newsworthy because a U.S. official said government investigators turned up this evidence. So we published the item."