From Greg Palast
“It’s appalling that this story got out there,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on her way back from Iraq.
What’s not appalling to Condi is that the US is holding prisoners at Guantanamo under conditions termed “torture” by the Red Cross. What’s not appalling to Condi is that prisoners of the Afghan war are held in violation of international law after that conflict has supposedly ended. What is not appalling to Condi is that prisoner witnesses have reported several instances of the Koran’s desecration.
What is appalling to her is that these things were reported.
What’s even more appalling is how Newsweek rolled over and played dead without a fight.
And just for the record: Newsweek, unlike Rumsfeld, did not kill anyone — nor did its report cause killings. Afghans protested when they heard the Koran desecration story (as Christians have protested crucifix desecrations). The Muslim demonstrators were gunned down by the Afghan military police — who operate under Rumsfeld’s command.
Isikoff cited a reliable source that among the neat little “interrogation” techniques used to break down Muslim prisoners was putting a copy of the Koran into a toilet.
Was there a problem with the story? Certainly. If you want to split hairs, the inside-government source of the Koran desecration story now says he can’t confirm which military report it appeared in. But he saw it in one report and a witness has confirmed that the Koran was defiled.
Of course, there’s an easy way to get at the truth. RELEASE THE REPORTS NOW. Hand them over, Mr. Rumsfeld, and let’s see for ourselves what’s in them.