Journalism, ethics, and loyalty

[Thinkmarble]

You guys are really kidding me.
That was not the first time these allegations have be made, beforehand prisoners released from the prison camps have stated that one of the tactics employed was desecrating the Koran.

[Coyote]

You guys are really kidding me.
That was not the first time these allegations have be made, beforehand prisoners released from the prison camps have stated that one of the tactics employed was desecrating the Koran.

I have no doubt that the Koran has been desecrated, whether it still is I am in no position to say. On one hand it would not surprise me if it is, on the other such tactics may be suspended due to the political shitstorm.

How much of it is propaganda on the part of the released Muslim prisoners, though? I'm not dismissing it all as propaganda, but the menstrual blood thing had been aired before, and the walking of prisoners on dogs' leashes was made obvious a year ago by Lynndie England. Since it stirred outrage once before, modified versions may be used to stir outrage again as prisoners getr released from Gitmo.

Some of the tactics have meaning beyond what Westerners see: leading someone around on a dog leash is humiliating, but to strict Muslims it has other repercussions-- Muslims see dogs as filthy animals that are at times referred to as the agents of Satan. So, putting a strict Wahhabist type Muslim in a position of being paraded around as a filthy Satanic beast will rattle them far more than the mere angry embarrasment that a Wewsterner would feel.

[wolveraptor]

I certainly hope no one here is suggesting that if Newsweek was correct, it STILL shouldn't have printed the story. The fact that politicians know that the media will be on their ass in an instant stops them from doing a lot more shit like this. This is the punishment for the assholes, far worse than temporary prison confinement. The fact that asshole fanatics used it as an excuse to attack Americans, who exposed these people in the first place, means that THEY have the problem, not the editor or reporter. Their responsibility is to get their sources right; either that or say something like, "Although it is unconfirmed at this time, there is reason to believe that a copy of the Koran was flushed down the toilet..."

[HyperionX]

Oh please, this story has been published time and time again. The concept that this is a purely newsweek mistake and that they are in anyway responsible is absurd. The only real mistake newsweek made was that they got it from an anonymous source instead of a known one.

Flushing Newsweek
Scotty McClellan grunts on the pot:

"It's puzzling that while Newsweek now acknowledges that they got the facts wrong, they refused to retract the story," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "I think there's a certain journalistic standard that should be met and in this instance it was not." "The report has had serious consequences," McClellan said. "People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged."

August 5, 2004

The Independent (London)

In the report, released in New York, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul - the so-called Tipton Three - said one inmate was threatened after being shown a video in which hooded inmates were forced to sodomise each other. Guards allegedly threw prisoners' Korans into toilets, while others were injected with drugs, it was claimed.

August 5, 2004

Daily News (New York) | Byline: By James Gordon Meek and Derek Rose.

They say that rats and scorpions had free run of their sweltering cages, loud rock music was used to drown out the sound of prayers, and sleep deprivation was common.

"They would kick the Koran, throw it into the toilet and generally disrespect it," Asif Iqbal wrote.

[...]

Pentagon spokesman Michael Shavers said the military "operates a professional detention facility at Guantanamo" and does not condone abuse of detainees.

January 9, 2005

Sunday | FINAL EDITION | HEADLINE: Nightmare of Guantanamo.... U.S. prison camp in Cuba has become legal black hole, reporter says BYLINE: John Freeman Special to The Denver Post

"They pepper sprayed me in the face, and I started vomiting; in all I must have brought up five cupfuls. They pinned me down and attacked me, poking their fingers in my eyes, and forced my head into the toilet pan and flushed. They tied me up like a beast and then they were kneeling on me, kicking and punching. Finally they dragged me out of my cell in chains ... and shaved my beard, my hair, my eyebrows."

[...]

And earlier this year, that process finally began. In March, the government released five British men from Guantanamo after nearly three years. They had been captured in Afghanistan, where they had gone to offer humanitarian aid. Rose interviewed them that same month, two months before the allegations of Abu Ghraib first surfaced, and yet they described a period of captivity eerily similar to that of the Iraqis in Abu Ghraib.

In August Mr Ahmed, Mr Rasul and Mr Iqbal issued a 115-page dossier accusing the US of abuse, including allegations that they were beaten and had their Korans thrown into toilets.*

(*Also published in The Hartford Courant (Connecticut), January 16, 2005.)

March 26, 2003

The Washington Post | Final Edition | SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A12 HEADLINE: Returning Afghans Talk of Guantanamo; Out of Legal Limbo, Some Tell of Mistreatment | BYLINE: Marc Kaufman and April Witt, Washington Post Staff Writers

The men, the largest single group of Afghans to be released after months of detainment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, gave varying accounts of how American forces treated them during interrogation and detainment. Some displayed medical records showing extensive care by American military doctors, while others complained that American soldiers insulted Islam by sitting on the Koran or dumping their sacred text into a toilet to taunt them.

[...]

Ehsannullah, 29, said American soldiers who initially questioned him in Kandahar before shipping him to Guantanamo hit him and taunted him by dumping the Koran in a toilet.

August 4, 2004

CNN.com | SECTION: LAW | HEADLINE: British men report abuse from Guantanamo BYLINE: By Jonathan Wald CNN
DATELINE: NEW YORK

U.S. soldiers "would kick the Koran, throw it into the toilet, and generally disrespect it," Iqbal said.

June 28, 2004

Financial Times Information | Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire | InfoProd | Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

One of the men, Timur Ishmuratov of Tatarstan, told ORT on 24 June -- prior to the release -- that he had been captured by Northern Alliance forces shortly after the beginning of the U.S. military action in Afghanistan and "sold" to the Americans for $ 3,000-$ 5,000. Former prisoner Airat Vakhitov told ORT about alleged mistreatment while he was at Guantanamo. "They tore the Koran to pieces in front of us, threw it into the toilet," Vakhitov said. "When people were praying, they forced their way in and put their feet on people's heads and beat them."

http://corrente.blogspot.com/2005/05/fl ... sweek.html

[tharkûn]

Hyperion: The difference might have something to do with the difference between whom was alleged to have reported to conduct: a previous detainee or US government document.

Reporting from a source who is willing to go on record and one who remains anon require different handling. One you attach your name to a story it reflects directly on your credibility and people can judge your intentions and beleivability. When you deal with an anon source allegedly citing a government report you should require a bit more fact checking. Like say asking if this report even exists