This Stupid Koran Thing
OK, so here's the Bush administration spin: Newsweek erroneously reports that US forces at Guantanamo Bay have mutilated copies of the Koran, causing Afghanis, believing the Koran the word of God and all copies sacred, to riot and kill people. Here's a choice quote from Scott McClellan, whom I hope to punch in the face one day:
"The report has had serious consequences," he said. "People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged."
This is a joke, right? The Bush administration is trying to avoid people losing their lives and damaging the reputation of the US abroad?
Snide comments aside, the Bush administration is doing something really nasty here. Here's the last line of the same article:
But the source later told the magazine he could not be certain he had seen an account of the Koran incident in the military report and that it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts, Newsweek said.
So wait, that's the issue? The whole argument here is over what report it appeared in? That's the issue? So no one's disputing that it actually happened, but Scott McClellan is still using this to blame Newsweek for people dying? Real classy, Scott.
Side note #1: Does anyone really think the actual incident, that of US forces flushing the Koran down the toilet to get detainees to talk, could possibly be false? After Abu Ghraib, and this weird ship-'em-out-to-Uzbeki-prisons story from a couple weeks back, and the fact that the Bush administration sees everything with divine moral clarity, I'd be shocked if they didn't. I am surprised heartland Muslims care so much though. It's not just a book?
Side note #2: You may know that Scott McClellan's brother, Mark McClellan, is head of the FDA, but did you also know that their mom, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is the Texas state comptroller? She's thinking of running for governor in 2006 too.