Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MulhollandDrive who wrote (104339)	5/16/2005 8:21:37 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Respond to of 108807

more on the 'brilliant strategy' of desecrating the koran at gitmo per stratfor Message 21329956 A story published in Newsweek swept through the Muslim world this week. The story claimed that U.S. interrogators had, in the course of interrogating prisoners at Guantanamo in Cuba, placed copies of the Koran in bathrooms and in one instance, flushed one down a toilet. The purpose, according to Newsweek, was to get prisoners to talk. Following publication of the article, demonstrations condemning the United States ensued throughout the Muslim world, and at least 15 people died during those demonstrations. It was not a trivial episode. In its recent issue, Newsweek backed off the story. It did not fully deny the report -- hinting that its reporters now had other allegations to investigate -- but the essential story is not dissimilar to other media failures. Newsweek began with the assumption that there had been abuses at Guantanamo. Its reporters had sources who told them things that appeared to be true because the sources appeared to be reliable. The sources turned out to be unwilling to stand behind the story. Newsweek backed off and in recent hours issued a substantial apology -- slated to appear in its next issue -- for publishing the piece. The problem began because Newsweek did not apply common sense to the story. The purpose of officials at Guantanamo Bay is to make prisoners talk. How would desecrating the Koran help induce prisoners to talk? Why would a devout Muslim prisoner, having seen the Koran flushed down a toilet, turn and say, "Well, that convinces me. I'll talk."? If anything, desecrating the Koran would stiffen the resolve of believers. There are two ways to induce a prisoner to talk: One is coercion -- applying physical or psychological pressure that weakens him; the other is befriending him -- showing him that you are his friend and ally. Desecrating the Koran is not going to weaken anyone's resolve to resist, nor will it make you his friend. It's just stupid. It is not that people don't do stupid things. The abuses at Abu Ghraib proved that. But common sense should have put huge warning flags on the rumors -- they just didn't make a whole lot of sense. Moreover, anyone with any sophisticated knowledge about the region would know that the story was explosive -- and likely to cause chaos. Moreover, the claim that Newsweek reporters were misled by a source is not much of an answer, even if it was a government source. Stratfor is misled by sources hourly. That is the job of sources -- to mislead. Our job is to not get caught in the deception. The degree of care to be taken is in proportion to the importance of the story. The Newsweek story simply didn't make a lot of sense, not the way it was reported. The fact that a source provided it does not make it true. The fact that three or five sources provided it did not make it true. Sources do not make stories true, nor does having a lot of sources get an intelligence analyst off the hook. In the end, regardless of sources, an analyst remains responsible for the story. That is the difference between a journalist and an analyst. For a journalist, a reliable source trumps the fundamental weirdness of the story. Sexual humiliation, coupled with photographs that might be sent to family members, potentially might make sense as an interrogation technique. It is not likely, but it is not absurd. Getting a religious fanatic to talk by desecrating his holy book does not pass the basic common sense test. Newsweek suspended common sense for a reliable source. No one seems to have asked a simple question: Does this make any sense at all? It's not a minor matter. U.S. journalists are used throughout the world to validate the positions of various groups. In the Muslim world, a report by Newsweek will be used by Islamist radicals for political gain. Newsweek cannot act as if it doesn't know this. It doesn't mean that the editorial department should pull their punches. It does mean that when they make a mistake, people die. Stratfor has and will make mistakes. That's inevitable. What we do not allow is to delude ourselves about the consequences.