Why Did The WaPo Miss This Detail?
By The MinuteMan
JustOneMinute
The Washington Post, owner of embattled Newsweek, missed an interesting detail in reporting on the latest development in the Koran desecration allegations.
Fortunately, both the AP and Reuters completed the picture. And yes, if you are turning to those two sources for "fair and balanced", you have wandered a long way from home.
The AP:
<<<
Pentagon officials have said recently that the public claims by released detainees were not credible and that the terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay had been trained to make such false claims.
Indeed, the FBI records cite at least one instance in which a detainee is said to have falsely claimed that a guard had dropped a Quran. ``In actuality the detainee dropped the Quran and then blamed the guard. Many other detainees reacted to this claim,'' the FBI document said, and that sparked an uprising ``on or about 19-20 July 2002.''
>>>
Reuters:
<<<
In other documents, FBI agents stated that Guantanamo detainees also accused U.S. personnel of kicking the Koran and throwing it to the floor, and described beatings by guards. But one document cited a detainee who accused a guard of dropping a Koran, prompting an "uprising" by prisoners, when it was the prisoner himself who dropped it.
>>>
The closest the WaPo comes to challenging the credibility of the detainees is this:
<<<
[Pentagon spokesman] Whitman said in his statement last night that al Qaeda members have been trained to lie about their treatment during incarceration, and that officials at Guantanamo Bay have had "a great deal of sensitivity to the importance of the Koran and other religious items and practices and . . . extensive procedures were put in place to respect the cultural dignity of the Koran." In January 2003, the Pentagon issued rules for handling the holy book.
>>>
Left unmentioned - we don't need to take Whitman's word for it that al Qaeda terrorists are trained to lie.
Lots of reaction at Memeorandum.
MORE: Picky, picky - the AP and the WaPo use the phrase "flushed *in* the toilet", and they put it in quotes. Reuters settles for "down" the toilet.
Well, flushed "in" the toilet answers the criticism that if the Koran won't flush, Newsweek's credibility is crushed. After the flushing, a rinsed Koran is left behind.
"Down" the toilet is harder to picture, unless the guard takes the time to shred the Koran first.
justoneminute.typepad.com
washingtonpost.com
cnn.netscape.cnn.com
story.news.yahoo.com
littlegreenfootballs.com
memeorandum.com |
