The Furious Spinner

Newsweek just retracted their story about the Koran being desecrated at Gitmo. Did they bend to pressure or were they wrong in the first place? According to Antiwar.com, Newsweek got it right when they reported that the desecration of the Koran was one of the methods used to torture and terrorize prisoners. So why would they back down? It seems very odd to me.

I must admit that I don't understand why people would go screaming out into the streets and killing people over a claim that the Koran or any book had been "desecrated." For one thing, we've been hearing stories about this and prisoner abuse almost from the beginning, so why would this particular story trigger riots? Over 100,000 people have died because of the Emperor's war against Iraq. Why aren't people out screaming and protesting over THAT? I have never understood why people kill because they've been "dissed." It seems ludicrous. If someone is disrespectful to me, I ain't gonna kill 'em. If they took all my books and urinated on them, I ain't gonna kill 'em. I might sue them. I would definitely call the law and get their crazy asses thrown into jail, but I'm not going to commit violence over being "dissed." And I gotta tell ya, my "religion" is dissed all the time. I worship the ground I walk upon (and the ground you walk about), and I see the Earth and Nature desecrated every single day.

In any case, as you've all heard me say time and time again, what has happened and is happening to prisoners at Gitmo and in Iraq is hideous. I hate to play the Nazi card, but some comparisons are apt. The German citizens claimed they didn't know what was happening to the Jews. I never believed that. If U.S. citizens don't know what is happening in Iraq and to prisoners in Iraq and Gitmo, they're just not paying attention. 2 comments

2 Comments:

To begin with, the State Dept. has a different view on what started the initial rioting in Afghanistan (see Afghan Riots Not Tied to Report on Quran Handling, General Says at http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive/2005/May/13-299433.html

Also, Newsweek's report is not the first time this has surfaced. The Dailykos posted a list of sources of earlier reports (http://dailykos.com/story/2005/5/15/211444/985)

The obscene treatment of prisoners should be expected in the context of the larger obscenity. Our invasion and consequent destruction of Iraq

By  Tom Marshall, at 7:34 AM  

Thanks, Tom. The links in my post go to stories that point out exactly what you say: the "Koran abuse" and prisoner abuse have been reported many times before. Good article on the Afghan riots. Thanks for the URL. And from the State Department. It never occurred to me to look there! By the way, I downloaded a different browser and can now read the Guerrilla Campaign. Yeah! Hope things are going well in Florida. How's the "shop-dropping" going? It's so American! I love it.

By  Kim Antieau, at 9:02 AM  

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