Whose Side Are They On?

Oops. Never mind, says Newsweek. (Or should that be Newsweak?)

That inflamatory report Newsweek stood behind, accusing US soldiers of desecrating the Koran? The one that sparked protests throughout the world and riots in Afghanistan that killed 16? Newsweek doesn't stand by it anymore.

Nice job, guys. I know that nothing guarantees a Pulitzer, fame, and international street cred like making the US look bad, but maybe you could do us all a favor and remember two things:
1. People outside of the US read what you print.
2. Just because a story looks good doesn't mean it's true.

Do something really crazy and try to hold yourselves to the same high standards you attempt to impose on everyone else.

I really find it hard to believe they think a rise in Islamic facism is a good thing, if they ever pulled themselves out of their fevered anti-Bush haze long enough to think about it. The amount of ink wasted on clamourous warnings of the imminent Christian conservative pseudo-Reich in recent weeks would suggest that they generally oppose religious autocracies. (Socialist autocracies are a different story.) I don't get it; maybe, deep down, they all want to wear burkhas.

I would like to suggest that instead of playing this "gotcha!" game that the press is insistent on playing, they start finding real problems and suggest solutions. And make sure that the problems really are problems, not incidents played up to look like problems in order to sell more magazines.

But the damage is already done.

Update:
Newsweek has officially retracted the story.