I've remained silent on the Newsweek affair because it's so silly. Many prisoners released from Guantanamo have complained of desecrations of the Qu'ran, or similar tactics, so many that Newsweek's bungled story—or kowtowing to the Bush administration—is irrelevant. But just like the 60 Minutes story on Bush's AWOL military service, which was corroborated by numerous sources, the media's failings don't excuse the news: considerable evidence shows Bush ditched his military obligations, just as detainee interviews suggest that desecrations of a Muslim holy book indeed did happen at Guantanamo (and the Army's admission that they staged mock executions to terrorize Islamic prisoners shows they have the spirit for such humiliations). Of course, the chickenhawk, "Newsweek Lied, People Died" rightwingers don't seem to care about people dying, they care about taking down the "liberal media." Which is why this is so sad: if Newsweek is a voice for liberals, liberalism is in a sorry state (read my blogroll to find truly progressive media).
But I will say this: right on (yet again) John Conyers, for saying what needs to be said. In a letter where he says the White House's reaction to the Newsweek error "smacks of political exploitation of the deaths of innocent and a shameless attempt to intimidate reporters from critically investigating your Administration's actions," he writes:
[T]here is - of course - a sad irony in this White House claiming that someone else's errors or misjudgments led to the loss of innocent lives. Over 1,600 Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis have lost their lives in the Iraq war, a war which your Administration justified by falsely claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. To date, your Administration has consistently blocked Congressional inquiries into whether such claims were the result of intentional manipulation of intelligence or, as you assert, a mere "failure."
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