Helen Thomas, Strikes Again.
Who's To Blame For Anger At U.S.?
Invasion, Not Article, Causes Hatred
Helen Thomas, Hearst White House columnist
POSTED: 4:34 pm EDT May 20, 2005
It was a act of desperation when the White House tried to blame Newsweek magazine for America's low esteem around the world, particularly in the Middle East.
The Bush administration could look in the mirror and see that the real cause for rampant anti-Americanism is the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Newsweek has apologized for and retracted its report that a copy of the Koran was flushed down the toilet at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the U.S. is holding some 500 prisoners, though released prisoners have in recent months told interviewers that they had witnessed similar acts of desecration.
The Newsweek report is being blamed for inciting riots in Pakistan and Afghanistan and the l7 deaths that ensued.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan -- who has fobbed off questions about mistreatment of U.S.-held prisoners in the past -- told reporters that the Newsweek report "caused serious damage to the United States abroad."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was appalled that the story about the Koran got out.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld -- of all people -- said: "People need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be careful about what they do."
This is the same Rumsfeld who ignored for months the first of the devastating reports about abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
You don't have to draw a diagram for the Arab world to know what country invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003 -- against the wishes of every nation in the region -- and tried to justify the attack with a rationale that shifted each time the previous version was shown to be false.
There's a sense of hypocrisy that pervades the huffing and puffing by Bush administration officials as they rush to criticize Newsweek. Where was their outrage when they saw the photographs of the shameful mistreatment of the prisoners of war at the Abu Ghraib facility, with forced nudity, humiliation, sexual harassment, brutal interrogation and dogs?
After those shocking photos were published around the world, Rumsfeld banned cameras from military prisons.
--He banned the CAMERAS...But did not stop the TORTURE..? Yeah ok.-
Daoud Kuttab, a news media critic and professor in Bethlehem, referring to claims by former prisoners of Koran desecration, told The New York Times:
"Newsweek can recant as long as they want, but as long as people are coming out of prison and telling the same story, it will not matter."
The Pentagon is still investigating the charges contained in the Newsweek account.
Former broadcaster Marvin Kalb, now at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said, "This is hardly the first time the administration has sought to portray the American media as inadequately patriotic."
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., said the administration is chastising Newsweek "for a story that contained a fact that turned out to be false. This is the same administration that lied to the Congress, the United Nations and the American people by fabricating reasons to send us to war."
One reporter asked McClellan what further, beyond an apology, Newsweek could do.
He had no suggestions except that the magazine should "move forward and do all it can to help repair the damage that has been done by this report."
Sorry, Scott. The damage was done with the unprovoked invasion of Iraq in defiance of all international law.
For some time the administration has been worried enough about its current standing in the world to appoint yet another woman to conduct a "public diplomacy" campaign to repair the U.S. image. The newcomer, Karen Hughes, takes the job after two other women quit.
My suggestion is to allow reporters to go to Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, as well as the U.S. prisons in Afghanistan, and let them question prisoners about their treatment. Then we may get a truly impartial picture of the situation.
But don't hold your breath on that happening.
(Helen Thomas can be reached at the e-mail address hthomas@hearstdc.com).
Invasion, Not Article, Causes Hatred
Helen Thomas, Hearst White House columnist
POSTED: 4:34 pm EDT May 20, 2005
It was a act of desperation when the White House tried to blame Newsweek magazine for America's low esteem around the world, particularly in the Middle East.
The Bush administration could look in the mirror and see that the real cause for rampant anti-Americanism is the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Newsweek has apologized for and retracted its report that a copy of the Koran was flushed down the toilet at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the U.S. is holding some 500 prisoners, though released prisoners have in recent months told interviewers that they had witnessed similar acts of desecration.
The Newsweek report is being blamed for inciting riots in Pakistan and Afghanistan and the l7 deaths that ensued.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan -- who has fobbed off questions about mistreatment of U.S.-held prisoners in the past -- told reporters that the Newsweek report "caused serious damage to the United States abroad."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was appalled that the story about the Koran got out.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld -- of all people -- said: "People need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be careful about what they do."
This is the same Rumsfeld who ignored for months the first of the devastating reports about abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
You don't have to draw a diagram for the Arab world to know what country invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003 -- against the wishes of every nation in the region -- and tried to justify the attack with a rationale that shifted each time the previous version was shown to be false.
There's a sense of hypocrisy that pervades the huffing and puffing by Bush administration officials as they rush to criticize Newsweek. Where was their outrage when they saw the photographs of the shameful mistreatment of the prisoners of war at the Abu Ghraib facility, with forced nudity, humiliation, sexual harassment, brutal interrogation and dogs?
After those shocking photos were published around the world, Rumsfeld banned cameras from military prisons.
--He banned the CAMERAS...But did not stop the TORTURE..? Yeah ok.-
Daoud Kuttab, a news media critic and professor in Bethlehem, referring to claims by former prisoners of Koran desecration, told The New York Times:
"Newsweek can recant as long as they want, but as long as people are coming out of prison and telling the same story, it will not matter."
The Pentagon is still investigating the charges contained in the Newsweek account.
Former broadcaster Marvin Kalb, now at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said, "This is hardly the first time the administration has sought to portray the American media as inadequately patriotic."
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., said the administration is chastising Newsweek "for a story that contained a fact that turned out to be false. This is the same administration that lied to the Congress, the United Nations and the American people by fabricating reasons to send us to war."
One reporter asked McClellan what further, beyond an apology, Newsweek could do.
He had no suggestions except that the magazine should "move forward and do all it can to help repair the damage that has been done by this report."
Sorry, Scott. The damage was done with the unprovoked invasion of Iraq in defiance of all international law.
For some time the administration has been worried enough about its current standing in the world to appoint yet another woman to conduct a "public diplomacy" campaign to repair the U.S. image. The newcomer, Karen Hughes, takes the job after two other women quit.
My suggestion is to allow reporters to go to Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, as well as the U.S. prisons in Afghanistan, and let them question prisoners about their treatment. Then we may get a truly impartial picture of the situation.
But don't hold your breath on that happening.
(Helen Thomas can be reached at the e-mail address hthomas@hearstdc.com).
posted by Christy at 2:55 PM
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