I'm Really Tired Of This Crap

(Breaking Things and Killing People—Part II)

”Newsweek Apologizes For Quran Story Errors” the headline reads today. You can read the entire story for yourself if you like—I think that their apology is pretty half assed, half hearted at best.

“NEW YORK - Newsweek magazine has apologized for errors in a story alleging that interrogators at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Quran, saying it would re-examine the accusations, which sparked outrage and deadly protests in Afghanistan…

In an issue dated May 9, the magazine reported that U.S. military investigators had found evidence that interrogators placed copies of Islam's holy book in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to get inmates to talk.

Whitaker wrote that the magazine's information came from "a knowledgeable U.S. government source," and before it published the item, writers Michael Isikoff and John Barry sought comment from two Defense Department officials. One declined to respond, and the other challenged another part of the story but did not dispute the Quran charge, Whitaker said.”

Once again a “respected” mainstream media publication has used a “knowledgeable” anonymous source to support their own anti-American, anti-military agenda—this time with disastrous results. Sixteen killed and over 100 injured. Who knows how many hundreds or thousands of new “insurgents” have been motivated to attack our citizens and forces overseas.

I say that Newsweek’s apology is insincere and half hearted because they seem to want to point to the silence of the Defense Department officials on the matter as their justification for printing the story in the first place. What complete and total crap. Remember that one of CBS’s excuses for the airing the “Rathergate” story on President Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service was that spokesmen in the White House didn’t deny the veracity of the documents that were the basis of the allegations?

It’s like that old “when did you stop beating your wife” question. If the “officials” had responded in a negative manner, you know that the story would have been printed any way—it would just have included their denial and some words to the effect that the denial should be discounted because everyone knows that the military always lies to cover up their atrocities.

Why do people that have an anti-war agenda always have to resort to vilifying the individual solders? Do they honestly believe that the military is filled with perverts and masochists that have enlisted so that they can legally prosecute their horrible deeds? Or perhaps they believe that our military is capable of taking guys like Opie Taylor and Gomer Pyle and turning them into Hannibal Lecter during eight weeks of boot camp.

I, personally, am insulted by this type of thoughts and allegations. I spent two years in the Navy Reserve while I was at Georgia Tech in the 1970’s and I can tell you that we were never once told that when the going got tough we could act in any manner and do any thing that we pleased. The foundation of our training as potential officers in the Navy was that of discipline and obeying the command structure, as well as respect for the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ.)

Under the UCMJ, you have somewhat fewer “rights” than the average citizen or dumb assed newspaper reporter has, and you are held to a higher standard of behavior. You do not want to screw up under the UCMJ unless you want to find yourself in a stinky metal military brig without TV and gymnasium privileges. Your last concern would be if the guards had placed the bible on top of the toilet in order to insult your religion.

The other thing that I wish that the leftist liberals, the media, and the other peaceniks would understand (but they apparently won’t) is that when you go to war, you are training and paying people to break things and kill people. The side that breaks the most things and kills enough people (but not necessarily the most people) to cause the other side to give up wins the war. History tells us that there has never been a single war fought without some casualties, both civilian and military.

Why do the media always act surprised and outraged at REALITY, yet refuse to accurately report it?