White House Urges Newsweek Editors To Apologize On Arab TV

By now the entire world knows about the story in Newsweek magazine that told of Americans desecrating the Quran at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The story triggered angry anti-American protests across the Muslim world including a deadly confrontation in Afghanistan, where about 15 people were killed and more than 70 injured when Afghan police and U.S. troops fired on demonstrators. Although a week has passed, tensions and emotions are still running high in the Arab world and around the globe. In many countries, politicians have been skeptical about Newsweek’s contrition, because at first the magazine’s editors simply apologized for the story with no explanation. Under heavy pressure from the White House, the magazine retracted its story a few days later, and its editors began appearing on U.S. television outlets to talk about the incident.

U.S. officials have said they did not find any evidence to substantiate Newsweek’s report and there has been no desecration of the Islamic holy book by interrogators at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. But because some released detainees have reported mistreatment by the interrogators, many in the Muslim world believe that the desecration of the Quran could well have taken place, thanks to the Newsweek article saying that such events took place. Politicians in many countries have called on the United States to make public the details of its investigation, to reassure the world that the Newsweek story was indeed fabricated. The Pentagon has not released such details yet, but the White House is calling on the editors of Newsweek to make more of an effort to set the record straight, saying that the image of the United States has suffered irreparable damage from the article’s impact on the Muslim world.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan is urging Newsweek’s editors to take their explanation straight to the Muslim community. By appearing on Arab television to apologize directly to Arabs, there may be some way for the magazine to correct a tiny bit of the damage it has done, even though such an apology will not bring back the people killed as a result of the irresponsible reporting. McClellan said that many news organizations hide behind anonymous sources "in order to generate attacks," and the problem is getting worse. The administration is calling on Newsweek to explain how it got the story wrong and to report instead of legitimate U.S. military practices that have been put into place to ensure that the Quran is handled with respect. The administration has told its embassies to spread the word abroad that America and its soldiers respect all religious faiths, and the Newsweek story was an example of egregious misreporting. But since Newsweek made the deadly error, Newsweek should be responsible for a direct apology to those most affected by their actions.