|
The Day Newsweek Bungled
More than 16 deaths were reported and dozens injured following
violent protests from Afghanistan to Pakistan, Indonesia, Gaza
and even to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and the
Arab League. So much loss of life and sufferings all on account
of one article that may or may not even be true. And would you
believe that article came from--Newsweek? The magazine we all
grew up with and have always held to be truthful and reliable?
Why would a single article spark so much violence and unrest?
Newsweek, in its May 23 edition, said that according to a
"knowledgeable government source," interrogators at Guantanamo
Bay had flushed at least one copy of the Koran down a toilet in
order to make the detainees talk. We all know that the detainees
there are mostly, if not all, Muslims.
And what is (the) Koran? According to Wikipedia.org, the Koran,
or Quran, is the holy book of Islam. Muslims believe that it is
the literal word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the
Angel Gabriel. Muslims believe in the Koran in the same way as
Christians believe in the Bible, though the belief and respect of
the Muslims on the Koran is much more passionate. It is said
that "none shall touch the Koran save the purified ones."
Obviously, the Newsweek writers alleged that not only did the
'unpurified ones' touch the Koran, but they even flushed it down
the toilet.
Now that is a really stupid thing to do--to actually have done it,
and to write about it and publish it for all the world to read.
Isn't the time we live in dangerous enough? Do we need to
add more sparks to ignite more violence?
The History Of Christmas OrnamentsHistory of Ornaments In A.D. 336, an early Roman calendar first mentions December 25 as the date of Jesus birth. This date was likely ..... The utter lack of sensitivity is also the problem here. Even if
the report was true, the weekly magazine shouldn't have
mentioned it in the article. And if they have really gotten
hold of such a report, they should have alerted the government
against such offensive and dangerous practice by the military.
The U.S. government has been trying it's best to project a good
image within the Muslim world in its bid to curtail insurgencies
in troubled Iraq and Afghanistan. But alas, the Newsweek
article is a big blow to its campaign. It will take months,
perhaps years, and a lot of diplomatic kowtowing to undo what
has been done. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would
probably have to go back to Iraq secretly again to appease our
Muslim brothers in that region.
I wonder, however, since the report has already been found to
be untrue, where did the idea of the Koran being flushed down
come from?
|
