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US
officials criticized the Newsweek report as “irresponsible”
and “demonstrably false”.
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WASHINGTON, May 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
The Bush administration, which lied to justify its war on Iraq, should
try and clean up its own act instead of coming down on Newsweek for its
report on the Qur'an desecration by US interrogators in Guantanamo,
American politicians and commentators said.
“The administration is chastising Newsweek magazine for a
story containing a fact that turned out to be false. This is the same
administration that lied to the Congress, the UN and the American people
by fabricating reasons to send us to war,” Pete Stark, a Democratic
Representative from California, was quoted as saying by Agence France
Presse (AFP).
In its May 9 edition, the mass-circulation Newsweek quoted
“a knowledgeable US government source” as saying that investigators
probing abuses at Guantanamo found that US interrogators “had placed
Korans (sic) on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book
down the toilet.”
The report sparked angry and violent protests across the Muslim world
from Afghanistan, where 16 were killed and more than 100 injured, to
Gaza.
The US State Department called the report “appalling” and caused
damage to the US image in the Muslim world.
Other administration officials said the story was “irresponsible”
and “demonstrably false”.
After protests from the Pentagon, the weekly cast some doubts on the
story in its next edition, saying the source “couldn't be certain
about reading of the alleged Qur'an incident in the report we cited, and
said it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts”.
Hypocrisy
The administration’s reaction to the story also drew fire from
leading American commentators.
“For the White House and the Pentagon to come down on Newsweek
for making a mistake is the height of hypocrisy,” wrote Washington
Post columnist Richard Cohen.
“Where, just for starters, is the retraction from (US Vice
President) Dick Cheney, who said that Iraq had 'reconstituted' its
nuclear weapon program?”
On May 18, Human Rights Watch called on the Bush administration to
investigate the humiliation of Muslim detainees and the abuse of their
religious beliefs rather than attacking those who expose its
ill-practices.
Common Practice
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A Kashmir University student holds a placard in an anti-US protest over the reported Qur’an desecration in Guantanamo. (Reuters)
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Use of anonymous sources has been a common practice by the Bush
administration when it comes to serve its interests, AFP quoted
journalists as saying.
They added that such an administration practice encourages the use of
anonymous sources in articles.
“There is already a debate about journalistic practices, including
the use of anonymous sources, and these things are worth discussing,
especially at a time of war, national insecurity, ... extreme government
secrecy, a time when aggressive news reporting is critical,” The
New York Times said in an editorial.
But, “it is offensive to see the Bush administration use this case
for political purposes, and ludicrous for spokesmen for this White House
and Defense Department to offer pious declarations about accountability,
openness and concern for America's image abroad”.
