Did Newsweek do THIS?

[Octafish]

http://www.dw-world.de/dwelle/allgemein/bilder_show/0,3772,109149_7,00.jpg

The BFEE's trying to shift blame for Abu Ghraib,
Guantanamo Bay and Bhagram Base and
all the atrocities and war crimes committed there to NEWSWEEK.
Thank heavens for a free Press. Oops. I forgot.
We have presstitutes working for the pimps at Corporate McPravda.
Media corpse, indeed.
They fail to pin blame where it belongs:
The war criminal George Walker Bush.

White House blaming article for anti-U.S. violence

Katharine O. Seelye and Neil A. Lewis
New York Times
May. 17, 2005 12:00 AM

NEW YORK - Newsweek's carefully worded retraction on Monday came after the White House said the Newsweek article had damaged the image of the United States abroad.

It reflected the severity of consequences that even one sentence in a brief news item can have at a time of intense anti-American sentiment overseas and political polarization as well as extreme distrust of the mainstream media at home.

Mark Whitaker, editor of Newsweek, said in an interview that the magazine was retracting that portion of the article that said sources told Newsweek that interrogators had flushed a holy book down the toilet to unnerve detainees. As it turned out, Newsweek now says, there was one source. And Whitaker said that because that source has "backed away" from his original account, the magazine could "no longer stand by" it.

"Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Quran abuse at Guantanamo Bay," the statement from Newsweek said.

"I did not want to be in the position of splitting hairs," Whitaker said, "to look like we were being evasive or not fully forthcoming."

CONTINUED...

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0517quran-newsweek.html

What about what Seymour Hersh reported? The rapes of women in front of families? The rapes of CHILDREN? Where are the media? Who do THEY work for? Certainly not We the People.

[bryant69]

1. It worked with Bush's national guard service

Instead of having to deal with that, the media got sidetracked into dealing with two memos rather than the larger issues raised.

Bryant
Chec kit out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[havocmom]

3. Exactly, no defense so they scapegoat someone else

When Jihadists start hitting us at home, the administration which never faces responsibility will blame it all on Newsweek.

[Octafish]

14. Demonzie, Disguise, Divert

Exactamundo, bryant69! Cool blog, too. Is that yours?



Here's what the folks at Counterpunch had to say:

Demonzie, Disguise, Divert

Pinning the Blame on Newsweek

By ROBERT JENSEN and PAT YOUNGBLOOD
May 17, 2005

If there is a political playbook for right-wing conservatives these days, it no doubt begins, "Step #1: Whenever possible, blame the news media."

What to do if the U.S. invasions/occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq have sparked resistance in those countries because people generally don't like being occupied by a foreign power that has interests in exploiting their resources and/or geopolitical value? Blame journalists.

That's exactly what the Bush administration and its rhetorical attack dogs are doing with the "scandal" over Newsweek's story on the desecration of the Quran at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo.

In a short item in its May 9 issue, Newsweek reported that U.S. military investigators had found evidence that U.S. guards had flushed a copy of the Quran down a toilet to try to provoke prisoners. This week, the magazine retracted, saying not that editors knew for sure that such an incident didn't happen but that, "Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Quran abuse at Guantanamo Bay."

Meanwhile, after the original story ran, Afghan and U.S. forces fired on demonstrators in Afghanistan, killing at least 14 and injuring many others.

CONTINUED...

http://www.counterpunch.org/jensen05172005.html

[in_cog_ni_to]

2. Control, control, control. Fear, Fear, Fear.

Propaganda, propaganda, propaganda. The truth matters not anymore. Perspectives have been skewed.

This Newsweek bullshit is EXACTLY like the Dan Rather AWOL story. Exactly the same. The story is TRUE, but they twist and skew and lie and nit-pick and distort to the point of making the entire story look false. We all know it's true.

We the people need to take back the media and soon.

[Octafish]

16. You can almost see the wheels a-churnin' through the NAZI Rove's forehead

It's a been a buildin'...

Celebrated U.S. media scandals

17 May 2005 13:21:08 GMT
Source: Reuters

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Newsweek magazine on Monday retracted a report claiming U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran, which triggered riots in Afghanistan and other countries in which at least 16 people were killed.

Following are some celebrated media scandals in the United States over inaccurate or fabricated stories.

April 1981 -- The Washington Post relinquishes a Pulitzer Prize for a story written by Janet Cooke about "Jimmy", an 8-year-old heroin addict who did not exist.

February 1993 -- NBC News admits that it attached explosive devices to a General Motors truck to show the vehicle's dangers in a fire for a November 1992 "Dateline NBC" report. NBC apologized to GM, which filed a lawsuit against the network for staging the crash.

May 1998 -- New Republic magazine fires Stephen Glass for embellishing a story on teenage computer hackers. A month later, editors apologize to readers after finding that Glass invented all or part of 27 of 41 articles he wrote for the weekly.

July 1998 -- CNN retracts its discredited "Operation Tailwind" report, broadcast the month before. The report alleged U.S. use of nerve gas on deserters in Laos during the Vietnam War. The cable news network apologized to the Pentagon and fired two producers associated with the story.

CONTINUED...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/B606735.htm

[rkc3]

4. Can someone tell me how many Newsweek magazines are shipped to

Afghanistan each week?

Do all Americans assume that what we read is shipped to every corner of the earth?

[CottonBear]

6. Aren't most Afghanis illiterate and don't speak English?

:shrug:

[rkc3]

9. Not all, only those who voted bor bush.

[Skittles]

13. LOL................rkc3

BWAHAAAAAHAAAAAAA

[Octafish]

17. "Sorry, but Imran read it out."

Here's how the story got spread, supposedly...

Sorry, but Imran read it out

S. Rajagopalan
Washington, May 16, 2005

American magazine Newsweek on Monday apologised for errors in its report on the desecration of the Koran by US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, but sought to blame Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan for triggering the riots that led to 15 deaths in Afghanistan.

"The spark was apparently lit at a press conference held on Friday, May 6, by Imran Khan, a Pakistani cricket legend and strident critic of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf," the magazine said in its latest issue.

Imran, it said, brandished a copy of the Newsweek issue and read out the report that US interrogators had placed the Holy Koran on toilet seats and even flushed one. "This is what the US is doing … desecrating Koran," Imran was quoted as saying.

"His (Imran's) remarks, as well as the outraged comments of Muslim clerics and Pakistani government officials, were picked up on local radio and played throughout neighbouring Afghanistan," the magazine said, adding that radical Islamic foes of the pro-US Hamid Karzai regime quickly exploited the issue.

Apologising for its own reportage, Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker said: "We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the US soldiers caught in its midst." Whitaker maintained the magazine's information came from "a knowledgeable US government source"

CONTINUED...

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_1365091,0015002100000000.htm

Dunno how many mags Newsweek ships out. Have asked. Will report.

[napi21]

5. This sounds amazingly similar to the Dan Rather story.

Neither said the STORY was wrong, just that they couldn't PROVE IT.

I tried to listen to each report from Newsweek, and I didn't hear anyone say "the story was false".

[Karenina]

7. That's because the STORY and worse

is TRUE!!! :silly:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3669550

[Octafish]

18. Exactly right. The BFEE's expert at media manipulation.

The story's are true. The attention has been changed to protect the guilty. In this case, the war criminal George W. Bush and the people he beards for, the BFEE.

Rove's Brain and Media Manipulation

by Norman Solomon

I just saw a horror movie -- "Bush's Brain" -- the new documentary based on a book with the same name by journalists James Moore and Wayne Slater. The book's subtitle is "How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential." I'll spare you the grim details. What matters most now is that Rove's long record of shady and vicious media operations is not just in the past.

Rove is more than a master manipulator of the news media. He's a stealthy smear artist who does whatever he can get away with. And Rove has gotten away with plenty. That's how George W. Bush became governor of Texas ... and president of the United States. What remains to be seen is whether Rove's techniques will again prove successful when this country votes on Nov. 2.

For all his deft skullduggery, Rove is smart enough to always remember that you can't beat something with nothing. It's not enough to tar the opponent with accusations and innuendos. It's also necessary to tout Rove's candidate as a guy just this side of the angels. And so, the Bush campaign is combining out-of-sight stilettos and out-front verbal attacks with elaborate poses of ultimate Goodness.

Yes, lots of campaigns routinely trash the foe -- and puff up the fair-haired boy or girl as the wondrous alternative to disaster. But the extremism of the Bush administration is comprehensive. The way it governs is the way it campaigns. A regime that goes all-out to lie and deceive while dragging the country into war can hardly be expected to hang back from similar endeavors when its hold on the presidency is at stake.

More than anything else, the most important added advantage that Karl Rove has this time around is incumbency. He was working for challengers when, as "Bush's Brain" sketches out, he engaged in dirty tricks against two governors running for re-election in Texas. And he didn't have access to the levers of White House power when his man defeated Al Gore in 2000. Now, Rove's capacity to make some huge things happen (with a prudent degree or two of separation) is greatly enhanced.

The Swift Boat uproar that erupted in mid-August was vintage Rove. He didn't sign the checks for the scurrilous anti-Kerry commercials, yet much of the financing and advising for those ads came from Republicans who've had a close working relationship with Rove.

CONTINUED...

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0901-11.htm

[seemslikeadream]

8. But the president talks to god

When the president talks to God
Are the conversations brief or long?
Does he ask to rape our women's' rights
And send poor farm kids off to die?
Does God suggest an oil hike
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
Are the consonants all hard or soft?
Is he resolute all down the line?
Is every issue black or white?
Does what God say ever change his mind
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
Does he fake that drawl or merely nod?
Agree which convicts should be killed?
Where prisons should be built and filled?
Which voter fraud must be concealed
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
I wonder which one plays the better cop
We should find some jobs. the ghetto's broke
No, they're lazy, George, I say we don't
Just give 'em more liquor stores and dirty coke
That's what God recommends

When the president talks to God
Do they drink near beer and go play golf
While they pick which countries to invade
Which Muslim souls still can be saved?
I guess god just calls a spade a spade
When the president talks to God

When the president talks to God
Does he ever think that maybe he's not?
That that voice is just inside his head
When he kneels next to the presidential bed
Does he ever smell his own bullshit
When the president talks to God?

I doubt it

I doubt it

[Octafish]

19. Gee. Where's Jeff Gannon when you need him?

"Mr. Pretzeldunce. How can you conduct a rational pogrom with all the baying dunces of the press hot on your high heels?"

State Dept. Tries to Undo Newsweek Damage

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
(05-17) 08:35 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

The State Department, moving to undo damage it says was caused by a Newsweek article alleging U.S. desecration of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, is telling its embassies to spread the word abroad that America respects all religious faiths.

In a two-page cable sent Monday night to all U.S. diplomatic posts, the department told the ambassadors to inform host governments and local media that Newsweek had retracted its report that investigators found evidence interrogators at the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, desecrated the Quran.

The Pentagon has found nothing to substantiate the allegations, the cable noted, adding, "The U.S. government will continue to investigate all credible allegations of misconduct and will take action against those responsible if the allegations are substantiated."

SNIP...

"We condemn all acts inciting violent protest and we express our sympathies to those injured in recent demonstrations and to the families of those killed," the State Department cable said. "We urge all members of the press to provide the same wide coverage to the magazine's retraction as was given to the original allegations."

The United States, the cable said, "is a tolerant society in which freedom of religion for all faiths is ardently defended.... Disrespect of the Holy Quran is not, has not been and will never be the policy of the United States."

CONTINUED...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/05/17/national/w083513D04.DTL

[underpants]

10. If 1 magazine has enough power to lose the war on terror.....

Why doesn't the "Weekly Standard" WIN the war on terror with one article?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1786627

[Octafish]

21. Ideas are powerful things. This means Infowar.

The masters of propaganda the BFEE employs know that the first to get an idea into a head have the best damn chance of being "believed," even if the info is false.

Consider marketing Pepsi v. Coke. A study I remember from 1990 college indicated that it cost about $65 in advertising to convert a junior-high school age student from one pop to the other. It cost about 11 times that much (IIRC) to convert an adult from one brand to the other.

For us, Bushco does the most outrageous, thieving, murderous, treasonous stuff imaginable. A fraction of people know the truth, but the majority go with the doubt that's sprinkled throughout what few reports make it into the papers, mags and broadcasts.

What Bushler said:

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."

--- George W. Bush

[spanone]

11. NO, for THAT you get the Medal Of Freedom...

[Octafish]

22. Bush likes torturers. Poppy's pal Pinochet for instance AND his boat.

Easy to see where they got the idea to "remand" terrorists to countries and places that condone violence. Nice people, the Bushes.



Blair urged to ban training vessel from Britain until Chile admits its use as floating jail after 1973 coup

by Giles Tremlett in Madrid
SOURCE: The Guardian, London
DATE: June 6, 2003

The Chilean navy's infamous torture ship, the Esmeralda, is to visit Britain twice this summer after the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, refused petitions for it to be banned. Mr Straw acted despite Chile's refusal to admit to or apologise for the vessel's horrific past.

The elegant, four-masted ship, known as "the white lady", will sail into Dartmouth harbour on June 27 despite the protests of the family of a British Roman Catholic priest, Michael Woodward, who died after being tortured on the vessel following General Augusto Pinochet's coup in 1973.

The Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, who campaigned for the prosecution of Gen Pinochet while the former dictator was detained in Britain five years ago, yesterday tabled an early day motion in parliament saying that the ship should not be welcomed in British waters. "We want to condemn the visit of the Esmeralda because of its past associations with the Chilean navy," he said.

Labour MPs and MEPs are lobbying Tony Blair to cancel the visit. "A visit by the Esmeralda would be degrading to those people who were tortured or killed on board," the Labour MEP Eryl McNally wrote to the prime minister.

CONTINUED...

http://www.chile-esmeralda.com/noticias_2003/Inglaterra/Pinochet%20torture%20ship%20heads%20into%20protest%20storm.htm

[Oreo]

12. Bush lied about riots being caused by the article

http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive/2005/May/13-299433.html
Afghan Riots Not Tied to Report on Quran Handling, General Says
Army investigating allegations of mishandling at Guantanamo Bay facility





By Jacquelyn S. Porth
Washington File Staff Writer



Washington – The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says a report from Afghanistan suggests that rioting in Jalalabad on May 11 was not necessarily connected to press reports that the Quran might have been desecrated in the presence of Muslim prisoners held in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Air Force General Richard Myers told reporters at the Pentagon May 12 that he has been told that the Jalalabad, Afghanistan, rioting was related more to the ongoing political reconciliation process in Afghanistan than anything else.

According to initial reports, the situation in Jalalabad began on May 10 with peaceful student protests reacting to a report in Newsweek magazine that U.S. military interrogators questioning Muslim detainees at the Guantanamo detention center “had placed Quran s on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book.” By the following day the protests in the city had turned violent with reports of several individuals killed, dozens wounded, and widespread looting of government, diplomatic and nongovernmental assets.

However, Myers said an after-action report provided by U.S. Army Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, commander of the Combined Forces in Afghanistan, indicated that the political violence was not, in fact, connected to the magazine report.

[Octafish]

23. Holy smoking gun, oreo!

D'ya think Newsweek knows about this?

I guess "probably," because they need to go along to get along.

Great article and a great find, oreo! Much appreciated!

Thanks to you, I found the following the subject, which reminds us these allegations are nothing new and a little more on Lt. Gen. Eikenberry, who recently assumed command in Afghanistan:

Probe into Holy Quran desecration comes after one year of allegations

WASHINGTON: Allegations that US guards at the Guantanamo Bay in Cuba threw Holy Quran in the toilet surfaced more than a year ago but it was not until this week when riots broke out in Afghanistan that the US military ordered an investigation.

So far, no evidence has been found to support the alleged desecration, senior US defence officials said.

SNIP...

Four days of riots in Afghanistan that left 14 people dead and over 100 injured was the worst incident of anti-American protests since 2001. Defence officials said General Bantz Craddock, head of the US Southern Command, ordered an investigation on Tuesday, the day protests erupted in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.

Three British detainees who were released from Guantanamo in March 2004 alleged that Guantanamo guards kicked and threw around the Holy Quran and on occasion threw them in buckets that served as toilets.

SNIP...

Pentagon officials said the violent protests were less a spontaneous upheaval over the allegations than a calculated campaign by an organised opposition.

General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Thursday said the US commander in Afghanistan, Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry, had recounted that the violence appeared to be related to efforts by the Afghan government to bring former Taliban supporters into the political process. afp

SOURCE:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_15-5-2005_pg7_43

I just LOVE South Asia journalism.

[Cleita]

15. We are pushing boulders uphill again it seems.n/t

[Octafish]

24. We need to get the media "fixed."

Which means restoring them to their real position as the only business named in the U.S. Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The Founders understood that a Free Press was necessary for the Republic to surive. You can't have the citizens make good choices without knowledge of the facts. Unfortunately, the bed-wetting bastards of the BFEE bought the major media and consolidated control into six corporations that controls the nation's information environment. And just to make sure they get their avaristic and treasonous way, they also changed the rules of the game, the Fairness Doctrine, so only Flush Limpnut's side gets heard. They can still make money, but we must get the media to do its first job - inform the citizenry.

[Just Me]

20. The journalists who do exercise integrity get bribed, bullied or buried.

It's disgusting! I hate that corporate tyrants are ruining every good thing about this country!!! :grr: But, they can't stop the truth from coming out. They will try,...but, they just will NOT stop the truth from prevailing over lies and greed!

[in_cog_ni_to]

25. I want to know why

the journalists who DO HAVE some integrity left don't join ranks with others of like-mind, group together, do a "surprise" news report AS A GROUP and "OUT" this administration on live TV. Why won't they do it? Remember the Ukraine journalists who stood up and REFUSED to further the propaganda and went outside and joined the orange protests? I do. They have the balls to do it, why don't the U.S. chicken shit journalists have the balls?

[Just Me]

26. Dunno. Perhaps, they're having trouble locating their courage.

:shrug:

Maybe, they've exchanged economic comfort for honor and bravery and morality.

:shrug:

[Octafish]

27. BFEE "suicides" journalists.

Journalists who oppose the BFEE end up in a bad way.

Gary Webbhurt the BFEE's feelings bu documenting how the CIA's Iran-Contra gang helped fuel the crack cocaine epidemic in America's major metropolitan areas. To the Bush gang, telling the truth made Webb an enemy.

http://www.parascope.com/mx/articles/garywebb/garyWebbSpeaks.htm


Here are a few others who actually had the guts to investigate the Bush Family Evil Empire:

Daniel “Danny” Casolaro — Researched BCCI and the Inslaw/PROMIS Affair, found that George HW Bush had ties going around the world and back through Iran-Contra, Iraq-gate, the October Surprise, Watergate, Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs and Dallas. A “suicide.”

http://www.cjr.org/archives.asp?url=/91/6/octopus.asp


Abbie Hoffman — Yippie of the 60s turned into an investigative reporter in the 80s, researched and wrote about “October Surprise” allegations involving George HW Bush, Bill Casey and Robert Gates doing a deal with the Ayatollah Khomeini to delay the release of the hostages in 1980. The pretty good overview appeared in Playboy in 1992. A “suicide.”

http://www.democracyunbound.com/playboy1088.html


Steve Kangas — Researcher and writer who started “Liberal Resurgent” web site dedicated to naming names like Richard Mellon Scaife and telling the truth about what was happening to America. Wrote the seminal “The Origins of the Overclass” which detailed the role of the CIA in preserving the privileged positions of the nation’s wealthiest individuals and corporations. A “suicide.”

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-overclass.html


Jim Hatifield — Researcher and writer who penned “Fortunate Son,” an unauthorized biography of George W Bush that included allegations of cocaine use, planted by Karl Rove, who knew that Hatfield, an ex-con would be discredited. The last thing Hatfield wrote “Why Would Osama Want to Kill His Ex-Business Partner?” that detailed bin Laden threatening to crash a plane loaded with explosives into the G-8 summit in Genoa Italy in July 2001. Bush slept offshore aboard a US warship and the meeting was guarded by SAMs. A “suicide.”

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Hatfield-R-091901/hatfield-r-091901.html


Mark Lombardi — Artist and researcher who developed “Global Networks” or “Social Network Diagrams” which illustrated and chronicled the relationships between many of our day’s shadiest characters, institutions and treasons. One of his works graphically charted Osama bin Laden, Sheik Salim bin Laden, James R Bath, Texas Gov George W Bush and HARKEN Energy. A “suicide.”

http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=2&contentid=1012&page=2


There are many more examples of brave journalists who’ve investigated the Octopus and turned up “suicided.”

[in_cog_ni_to]

28. That's why they need to ban together, show up ON THE AIR on LIVE TV

and out these bastards. If they had a group of 50 journalists who called foul on this administration and the cabal.....they couldn't ALL be "suicided." That would be too suspicious. They need to take over a network and save our country. They should be using their power for the good of this land, not for the government/corporations.

[Octafish]

31. REEEEEEALY like your idea there, in_cog_ni_to.

It's time we stopped separating those who support the BFEE from those who merely tolerate them. To do so requires, journalists and the Truth.

Perhaps we could start by gathering the names of all the people in the local newspapers and newsrooms that have been watching -- incredulously -- at what the Bush Crime Family does to America, the world and, We the People.

By starting with the professional grass routes, which are the more honest ranks of journalism, IMFO, we could establish the credibility needed with the nation's communities. And because of the number of papers and radio and TV stations, there'd be hundreds of names, perhaps thousands who would be willing to step forward and make THE statement. Then it'd be an easy thing to find 50 at the network to grow some balls.

There's safety in numbers. And that is the only thing that will protect us as individuals: We must all stand together, or we will certainly hang individually.

[Beelzebud]

29. BushCo regrets that these stories were published.

Not that the events happened, mind you; Just that journalists actually reported on them. The plan is to make the media scared to report any negative things about the government.

Fascism! You're soaking in it!

[Octafish]

30. They never thought they'd get caught.

Source: Bush (Bush Jr), Cheney, Rumsfeld (not pictured), Ashcroft Page

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Politicians/Bush_Cheney_Rumsfeld_page.html