You Can Eat That Crow Now.
FBI memo reignites Qur'an furore
Further allegations that US interrogators at Guantánamo Bay flushed copies of the Qur'an down a toilet emerged yesterday, a week after the White House denounced reports of the incidents.
Declassified FBI records showed that as early as April 2002 detainees at the US prison in Cuba had denounced the treatment of the Qur'an by guards.
"Their behaviour is bad," one detainee is quoted as saying in July 2002. "About five months ago the guards beat the detainees. They flushed a Qur'an in the toilet."
The report, written by an FBI agent, continued: "The guards dance around when the detainees are trying to pray. The guards still do these things."
The documents were released to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) under the freedom of information act.
While the Pentagon had no immediate comment on the release of the documents, ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer told Reuters: "Unfortunately, one thing we've learned over the last couple of years is that detainee statements about their treatment at Guantánamo and other detention centres sometimes have turned out to be more credible than US government statements."
The documents echoed allegations made in a Newsweek article published on May 9. That article was denounced as inflammatory and blamed for rioting in Afghanistan which resulted in the deaths of 16 people.
Last week the magazine published a retraction, but went on to detail further allegations of desecration of the Qur'an by US military interrogators.
The story was subsequently withdrawn after the magazine found itself under attack from a furious White House. Scott McClellan, White House spokesman, insisted Newsweek had "got the facts wrong".
But yesterday's revelations resurrected charges that US interrogators desecrated the Qur'an and that military authorities were made aware of the allegations as early as the summer of 2002, three months after the camp opened.
In January 2003 the US military issued guidelines for the handling of the Qur'an which said it should be treated "as if it were a fragile piece of delicate art", and that it should not be placed in "offensive areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet or dirty/wet areas".
Anthony Romero, the ACLU's director, said: "The US government continues to turn a blind eye to mounting evidence of widespread abuse of detainees held in its custody."
So, correct me if I am wrong, but it appears that Newsweek's article was FACTUALLY CORRECT but sited the wrong SOURCE?
by MG at 8:50 AM
18 Comments:
I love how the Freedom of Information Act keeps biting Bush in the ass. The question is, how many bites will take for him to get the hell out of dodge?
hehehe, gotta love diligence.I can hardly wait to see how this wraps up.
Part of the problem here, is how quickly Newsweek retracted its story. Now it seems they were right. What kind of position are they in now?
And Sar, if they haven't left dodge yet, they ain't leavin' ever.
Nedhead - it seems to me that's an indication of how much power the White House has... they applied the right amount of pressure and Newsweek was forced to admit they messed up (the source). Only speculation, obviously, since I don't work at Newsweek and don't know the behind-the-scenes info.
Y'know, that's what bugged me the most about the whole situation ("bugged" meaning stuck out most). Newsweek's retraction never said the allegations about Quran desecration were false, just that they sourced the information wrong. Their human source never recanted the information, just that he may have been mistaken on WHERE he saw it. The White House never actually outright denied the allegations, just that it didn't appear in THAT particular report.
Now we have info from FBI records and the Red Cross (who cited "credible accusations" and who made a good enough case that it really happened that the Pentagon set forth formal guidelines for the handling of the Quran). And, the White House & Pentagon have changed their story a bit . . . they've actually claimed at this point that any and all desecrations of the Quran were actually perpetrated BY DETAINEES trying to incite riots. Yeah, sure.
The real troubling thing about the whole book flusing thing has nothing really to do with the obvious disrepect demonstrated. The ideas in the book are not lost becuase it was flushed?
The more problematic issue is, at this point, whom does one trust? I ask this question over on my blog a day ago. If we can't trust our own "intelligence," why are we - the USA - acting and behaving like we are today?
Here's the link for those who are might like to click over, but are averse to scrolling:
http://educationalwhisper.blogspot.com/2005/05/to-tell-you-truth.html#comments
I wonder if the government will still keep denying these allegations? Most of the world believes we are guilty. The Red Cross documented Quran destruction by prison interrogators as early as 2002. The fact is that our government KNOWS it is guilty. When will it admit the truth? Will it ever? We are, as a nation, starting to hate Muslims as much as they hate us. That's very bad.
For the other side of the story
I don't know why this is news again, it's the same thing all over again, terrorists making accusations. The fundamental question is summed up in this quote:
"It's a judgment call, and I trust the judgment of the commanders more than I trust the judgment of Al Qaeda."
And for the record, I could care less if they take a dump on the Koran and serve it in the chili. If we can deal with "Piss Christ", they can deal with this.
Brash - FOX news SUCKS. I can't trust ANYTHING they report, whether it looks good for Dems or good for Reps. It's no secret that FOX is run by staunch right-wingers and that news is filtered to fit their views.
The fact is that several different entities have recorded abuses, yet at this point, people like you are so tired of hearing about it that the spin the WH puts on it all just becomes background noise you don't want to hear. It's understandably TIRING!
And that's what the WH wants to happen. If facts get leaked and the press actually grows enough of a pair to report it, the WH will spin it into confusion until people no longer want to hear about it and let it go.
And THAT'S why people like me continue to post info on our blogs - in the hopes that other like-minded people and people who do care that it's going on can get the info and share it with others as well.
I don’t know why the ACLU is even involved in this.
Does it not stand for “American” Civil Liberties Union?
We have bent over backwards to accommodate the detainees connected to world terrorism.
I do not have any problem with the US using any tactics that does not cause permanent physical injure.
We are at war. These terrorist will stop short of nothing!
Did anyone see the Video of the children role playing a hostage getting his head lopped off?
There is no freedom in these counties that support the Museum based extremist.
Let alone free speech. Woman have less Human rights than camels or goats.
Try traveling to one of these sponsored countries to express your empathy.
As your foot touches their sacred ground, your head would shortly follow.
I guess the ACLU is concerned about defending the ideals and values that defined what it meant to be American.
Go figure.
Dear John,
The "America" I live in quite contentidly, and selubriously, includes and invites people who study the Koran to live in the same Country.
What's that plastered on Lady Liberty? "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"...no where does it say, stay out if you study the Koran.
Today's Misleading Headline Award...
...goes to this Reuters story: "FBI memo reports Guantanamo guards flushing Koran". Sensational story, huh? That's what the lefty who emailed us the link thought. He wrote:
Will this make your front page?
I hope you do the right thing and acknowledge that Newsweek was correct in it's [sic] story, but I doubt it.
Unfortunately for our correspondent, who so badly wants the Newsweek story to be true, the article says no such thing. What it reports is old news:
An FBI agent wrote in a 2002 document made public on Wednesday that a detainee held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had accused American jailers there of flushing the Koran down a toilet.
That such accusations have been made by detainees, along with other implausible claims, has been public knowledge for a long time. The Reuters article notes that the Defense Department described the claim in question as "not credible." The Reuters story also includes this disgusting account:
In document written in April 2003, an FBI agent related a detainee's account of an incident involving a female U.S. interrogator.
"While the guards held him, she removed her blouse, embraced the detainee from behind and put her hand on his genitals. The interrogator was on her menstrual period and she wiped blood from her body on his face and head," the memo stated.
A similar incident was described in a recent book written by a former Guantanamo interrogator.
This story is absurd on its face. What about the "similar incident" described by the former Guantanamo interrogator? Presumably Reuters refers to the recent book by Erik Saar, the only book-writing former interrogator I know of. I heard Saar relate this story on the radio, only it wasn't blood, it was red ink, and there was nothing about the female soldier removing her blouse, etc. "Similar," indeed.
This story has been marked by two features, I think: lousy reporting, and a desperate desire on the part of leftists worldwide to believe that assertions made by Guantanamo detainees, no matter how outlandish and uncorroborated, are true.
(EAT THAT!!!)
I'm sure our humble administration will clear all this up. Don't they always?
Only a matter of time before Bush and his cronies do away with the FOIA.
And Koran vs. Qu'ran. This'll be like black and African-American. You'll have to check your guide book to know when you're politically correct.
Also notice that the detainee said his bible was flushed IN a toilet. Just like my friend's father used to do his head. It didn't mean Jim's head got flushed "down" the toilet.
"happy" republican - So I guess absolutely NONE of what has been said is true and all the soldiers there treat detainees with dignity? Well, except for the ones that were killed? Because that makes LOADS of sense... They decided just to pick on the ones that happened to die?
You're just burying your head in the sand and ignoring the signs. Feel free to do so, as this is still a free country, but the polls indicate more and more people are starting to get it.
dignity?
Question:
Would you rather be a terrorist in our prison, or a American infidel in their prison?
I think Windspike really missed the target. This is not an immigration issue.
Give me a break, maybe we should try to "talk" to Osama and his cronies to help them with their inner child.
This will work.
John, there are people in that place for years without having committed any crime except being caught up in a general sweep. Farmers with no connection to terrorists have been held. YEARS. With no charges brought against them. Some have them have finally been let go - why would we let them go if they were terrorists? How many of the hundreds of detainees have been charged with terroristic crimes?
Pardon me for wanting innocent people to have some basic human rights instead of creating more hate against the US. Because if I was locked up for over 3 years, beaten and abused, then finally let go, you think *I'd* be happy with the government that did it?
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