Koran Riots

The Times Online details the cascade of coverage and fury over the Newsweek story that contains quotes about US official dumping pages of the Koran into a toilet as a method of psychological breakdown of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. At this point, the riots have continued going into their 5th day, and at least 9 people have died in the massive anti-US protests.

This link from the Huffington Post, and this post from the Vagabondia blog pin the responsibility on Newsweek, a strange position to take. Of course Newsweek is going to publish this material: it is a big expose, dangerous, and sensationalist; and it is also potentially true. Newsweek's publication of the material is not the question, although they must be held responsible for correct, verifiable reporting in cases like this. The questions, however, need to be: did it occur; how does it fit into the larger structures of the Muslim perceptions of America; and why has it inspired such violence?

For one of the most impoverished, rural, war-trompled nations, this report has little to do with Newsweek's credentials as responsible reporters as it has to do with it's current place in the world as a political and religious state. In other words, in a country that has been amidst war for the last 30 years with various superpowers and regional aggressors; in a country who, after the attacks of 9/11 had to brace for immense internal strife once again and adapt to the retaliation of American forces; in a country whose communities have been abducted with no recompense or explanation and held in the facility at Guantanamo Bay for four years now, with no contact or judicial review, many of whom are guilty primarily of living in the extreme poverty of these areas and turning to fundamental Islam as a hope for survival; in that country, the embarassing defacement of the Koran is much more significant than just Newsweek's brief column and responsibility of reporting.

For them, and perhaps ideally for us, it has less to do with the media's duty to restraint in reporting and more to do with America's duty to restraint in it's pursuit of justice.

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UPDATE
Hamid Karzai, Afghan President, calls the protesters "enemies of progress," saying:

Speaking at a news conference Saturday in Kabul, President Karzai said those behind the violence are trying to tarnish Afghanistan's image as it moves toward political and economic stability. He said foreign hands are behind the disturbance, but he did not identify them.

He says the violence is an attack on Afghanistan and the government will fight the threat as it fought Soviet occupiers in the 1980s. The president says he has ordered his security agencies to arrest anyone involved in fanning the unrest whether they are Afghans or foreigners.

But Mr. Karzai dismissed suggestions the protests are actually aimed at the presence of U.S and other allied forces in Afghanistan, saying the country would "go back immediately to chaos" if foreign forces left.

"Without the strategic partnership with America, Afghanistan will not make it as a sovereign, independent nation able to stand on its own feet," he said. "We are seeking partnership with America, with Europe because we cannot fight tricks, interference - hidden or otherwise - in our country."

President Karzai urged the United States to prosecute and punish anyone found guilty of desecrating the Koran, saying such an act is unacceptable to every Muslim.

Of course this statement is reasonable and true. There are likely small factions of fanatic Muslims using the desecration allegations as inflammatory means to raise furror for their own political purposes. But it is not the AntiCentenarian's role to criticize these populations; as we don't have the cultural insights necessary to do so. It is Hamid Karzai's role, and that of the people of Afghanistan, to work to reject this kind of violent fanaticism, which would lead to a resurgence of Taliban-like control.

In many instances, such as this, the AntiCentenarian can only look toward the severe cultural faults of American policy and analysis and fabricate the perception of meaningful criticism of that.

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UPDATE

Newsweek says it erred in reporting the desecration of the Koran:

The weekly news magazine said in its May 23 edition that the information had come from a "knowledgeable government source" who told Newsweek that a military report on abuse at Guantanamo Bay said interrogators flushed at least one copy of the Koran down a toilet in a bid to make detainees talk.

But Newsweek said 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.

The acknowledgment by the magazine came amid a continuing heightened scrutiny of the U.S. media, which has seen a rash of news organizations fire reporters and admit that stories were fabricated or plagiarized.

The Pentagon told the magazine the report was wrong last Friday, saying it had investigated earlier allegations of Koran desecration from detainees and found them "not credible."

This, of course, makes Vagabondia and the Huffington Post postings both appropriate and correct in their media scrutiny of Newsweek's report.

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UPDATE
The Wonkette sums up nicely:

We're not going to try to defend Newsweek -- Mark Whitaker cocking that up nicely on his own. But we do wonder if the administration should be piling on like a bunch of naked prisoners. If you're the one that soaked the field in gasoline, is it a good idea to draw a lot of attention to the guy who walked by smoking a cigarette?