NEWSWEEK: WHO IS REALLY TO BLAME
by Buck Evinger
Who is to blame for the 20 or so deaths, and possible more, and the harm done to America’s reputation in the Middle East?
Is Newsweek at fault for publishing the story, now confirmed by Newsweek to be untrue? Yes, they should have known that these unsubstantiated accusations, especially these, would have repercussions. BUT…ask yourself this question. If the Christian Bible had been so descrated, would a gang from the Southern Baptist gone out and killed a bunch of people?
Of course not. This was a one paragraph report in a “quick-read” section of a weekly magazine that, under other circumstances, would have gone un-noticed. Here are the details of why it didnt’.
A Pakistani activist, rich boy and former cricket star, Imran Khan, is trying to make a political name for himself in the post-Taliban middle east. This guy is an Usama bin Laden in the making. It was his ranting in front of TV cameras that lit the uproar on the Arab street and led to the deaths of 17 people in Afghanistan. He or an aid read the story in Newsweek and saw an opportunity to use it for personal gain. He got on TV, denoucing the U.S. and announcing his intention to introduce legislation in the Pakistani congress to ban Quran burning. (Sound familiar)
Once that fire got lit, the terrorists we are fighting, needing no other reason, decided to kill people and make a point. Ultimately, they are murderous thugs who used this opportunity to kill people for their “cause.”
That doesn’t give Newsweek a free pass. They should have known better and should have waited until they got a response from the Pentagon before publishing. They also have an obligation, to the families of the murdered innocents, to try and right the wrong.
At first glance, I was outraged at Newsweek for doing what they did, but my gut tells me it could have been anything that the small minded, power hunger Khan would have latched on to in order to see havoc ensue. Keep your eye on this Khan fellow. His name will come up again.
Mr. Jack Says: May 18th, 2005 at 10:56 pm
Is it just me? Or does it seem like our democracy is slowly dying?
Of course we all know that when democracies die they either lead to the total left (anarchy) or the total right (totalitarianism) and looking at what’s happening it’s obvious we’re birthing Totalitarianism.
Congress seems to be loosing power to the executive, a point that the Bushes Nominee for the U.N believes that the U.N is a dying government, it seems that if Bush has an agenda, it’s being done, and meanwhile congress is deteriorated into things like the Shrivo case, which was outside their power, that was for the Judicial branch to decide, not the legislative, or the executive.
Further more our country is suffering Apathy. Apathy is the death of democracy as the Totalitarian movements of the 1930’s and 40’s showed us, that not caring, allows the whack jobs bent on subjugation in.
An example of this apathy that I found very startling is the Down Street memo. It seems to me that if our government lies to us, we should care; we should have that all over CNN and Fox news. The Press Had a hay-day with Clintons sex-scandal, but fails to do anything about the Bush administration lying to the people of the United States and Great Britain.
Apathy is the death of democracy.
Circe Says: May 19th, 2005 at 2:31 am
Buck,
Thanks for the info on Khan. I had never heard of him and now I will try to learn more about him. I think that your analysis is of this situation is very reasonable. The Newsweek article was a mistake but I don’t think it explains all of the causes of the riots. The killers were in a killing mood. They are fake Jihadists. If the rioters understood the meaning of the religion they claim to defend, and understood jihad, they would reject the anti-american rhetoric of their poor leaders who preach hatred and sow violence. They dishonor the teachings of the Quran with violence. Violence will never deliver to them what they need. Violence weakens them.
Circe Says: May 19th, 2005 at 2:28 pm
Mr. Jack
An article by Juan Cole in today’s edition of Salon magazine (available online at salon.com) provides the most detailed analysis of the Downing Street Memo that I have read yet. It will get the ball rolling if people read it.
Sriram Says: May 24th, 2005 at 8:41 pm
The media is anti-American and liberal in general.
Circe Says: May 25th, 2005 at 12:20 am
I can see how you might defend the view that the conservative media is anti-american but most media is just pure capitalism unleashed - that is, it’s the american dream.
andre hernandez Says: June 6th, 2005 at 5:18 pm
The Pentagon has confirmed instances of Quran abuse.Please read a newspaper or book , hell read anything.