04:03 - Pot Kettle Black

In the unbelievable column this week, the right wing blogosphere is all over Newsweek for its unconfirmed report of the Koran being desecrated at Guantanamo Bay and the resulting Muslim world outrage and killings.

Newsweek magazine on Monday retracted a report that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran after the story triggered protests in Afghanistan that killed 16 people and the White House criticized it.

Ok, now go read mattie's holier-than-thou reaction to this.

Now c'mon, are you serious ? This is just laughably hypocritical.
Hm, let’s see, I know I’ve seen this before... people losing their lives over false information from one source... just can’t seem to remember what that was...

Let’s take the White House Press Secretary’s quote, “The report has had serious consequences” and play a little game called fill in the blank:

"The ___ has had serious consequences," McClellan said. "People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged."

Should it be...
a) illegal war
b) president
c) disrespect of Islam
d) interrogation policy lax on torture
e) total lack of truthfulness or diplomacy
f) flagrant hypocrisy

Here is what Newsweek actually said: "On Saturday, Isikoff spoke to his original source, the senior government official [purportedly from the Pentagon], who said that he clearly recalled reading investigative reports about mishandling the Qur'an, including a toilet incident. But the official, still speaking anonymously, could no longer be sure that these concerns had surfaced in the SouthCom report." Seems more like a reconsideration that a full retraction.
The only thing I find hard to believe in the quote is that Guantanamo has indoor plumbing.

And what's this ?
The Bush administration was also making its own effort at damage control, sending cables to embassies, beginning last week, that instruct them to spread the word that the United States is respectful of the Koran and not hostile to the Muslim faith.
Oh, the hilarity... yes, we're very respectful, please see this lovely photo of a naked prisoner on a dog leash.

And what else (same article) ?
[T]he chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers, testified on Capitol Hill last week that the senior American military commander in Afghanistan had said that he thought the unrest there was spawned more by the country's reconciliation process since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 than by the Newsweek report.
Interesting, interesting.

I mean, it’s really great that the administration has demanded that Newsweak retract the story because the "facts" may not be directly supported… so does this mean that Newsweak can now ask the administration to retract the war ? Because, you know, we're all about freedom and justice and everything. The audacious condescension of the Administration’s and the right wing 'sphere's “Newsweek lied, people died” accusation is just really astounding.
Do as I say not as I do, I guess.

P.S. Drudge isn’t a blog.

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