Newsweek creates a problem

Fire of Liberty

As we look at the aftermath in Afghanistan from the report on the Koran in Newsweek(which turned out to be fraudulent), one has to ask the question of what was this news magazine thinking by putting out such a story. Didn't they realize that the various but small contingent of Muslim radicals in Afghanistan and elsewhere would use this story to stir up trouble and create a dangerous situation that resulted in the death of some 14 people. It's amazing that a magazine that has a Mid-East savvy staff and individuals like Fareed Zakaria hanging around (Newsweek International), couldn't find someone to advise them on the possible dangers of putting such a story out for consumption. For a magazine that always professes to know the workings of distant regions and cultures, they seem to be pretty dumb in understanding how important the Koran is to the Muslim World. Maybe this is a little to much to ask for a magazine that might have a handful of people who might attend a Church, Temple or Mosque. Maybe they should read this great article by Lee Harris over at Tech Central Station on how some mild religious slight in the eyes of the fellows at Newsweek and the US is a different creature in the Middle East. He notes that the Koran is taken by Muslims as the true last words and revelations of Allah to the World and should never be destroyed or desecrated. (I'm the same about the desecration of the Bible or the American flag- you just shouldn't do it.) I think Harris put the problem of Newsweek in a clear a concise manner in the following paragraphs:

This complete lack of visceral sympathy with a book that Muslims regard as co-eternal and uncreated, existing at the same ontological level as God Himself, is nothing that we Westerners can overcome, no matter how hard they try to empathize. Yes, many of the moral injunctions of the Koran are uplifting and noble, but the truth is that we Westerners have acquired our tastes in sacred literature from some of the world's most fabulous storytellers, and our expectations have been set high. It would be like asking a man who loved Beethoven's symphonies to gush over a Muzak version of Pepsi jingle.

If I have offended anyone, including Karen Armstrong, I sincerely apologize. But we cannot continue to pretend to venerate what we have no interest in, or sympathy with. Yet, precisely because the Koran is worlds away from us we must always proceed with great caution in dealing with it. For Muslims, dissing the Koran is the hot button of all hot buttons. It is what flag burning is to a construction worker. The proper procedure for dealing with those who insult the Koran is not to investigate the matter in more detail, but to riot in the streets until those who have insulted the Koran have paid the price for this transgression -- and as Salmon Rushdie could tell you, if he stopped attacking the United States for a moment, is that blasphemy against the Koran is a crime that is only suitably punished by death.

Maybe the people at Newsweek are have a very introspective moment and are seeking a better understanding of what makes the Muslim World tick. From what I've heard and seen on TV from the people at Newsweek since Sunday, I pretty much doubt it. Once again, the folks at Newsweek were trying to break a juicy story on Guantanamo and forgot to find a corroborating source. When you begin to forget rules of good journalism, you not only tarnish your own work but endanger the lives of our servicemen in the Middle-East. It's about time that these journalists to stop looking for gotcha moments and think through what they're going to run. What's even worse is that these folks have editors. At least bloggers have the courage to admit problems and correct their mistakes. Hopefully this fact will motivate the MSM. Lets hope.