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Newsweak finally retracts

NY Times:

Newsweek formally retracted a recent report today that said the Koran had been desecrated by American guards at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, an article linked to riots in Pakistan and Afghanistan that led to the deaths of at least 17 people.

"Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Koran abuse at Guantánamo Bay," Newsweek's editor, Mark Whitaker, said in a one-sentence statement issued by the magazine late this afternoon.

Mr. Whitaker's statement went further than the apology he issued on Sunday, in which he expressed doubts about information that had been provided by a "senior government official" whom the magazine did not identify, as well as regrets over the loss of life linked to the report.

Throughout the day today, the White House, the State Department and other critics of the Newsweek report, a short article in the May 9 issue, assailed the magazine for not issuing a retraction despite acknowledging that the official had recently expressed doubt about his own knowledge of the accusation against the guards.

"It's appalling, really, that an article that was unfounded to begin with has caused so much harm, including loss of life," the State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said at a briefing in Washington.

"One would expect, as the facts come out of how this story was written - one would, in fact, expect more than the kind of correction we've seen so far," he said. "But I think it's very clear to us nonetheless that the effects around the world have been very bad."

...

In a statement, a Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said: "Newsweek hid behind anonymous sources, which by their own admission do not withstand scrutiny. Unfortunately, they cannot retract the damage they have done to this nation or those that were viciously attacked by those false allegations."

The original account, he said, was "demonstrably false" and "was irresponsible and had significant consequences that reverberated throughout Muslim communities around the world."

The top spokesman for the Pentagon, Lawrence Di Rita, called the editor's note on Sunday "very tepid and qualified." He added later, "They owe us all a lot more accountability than they took."

The original apoligy attempted to shift some of the blame for the riots to Afghan unhappiness over the US presents there and the NY Times also attempts to put that suggestion forward using the statements of an American General. However, all the reports immediately after the violance started said the mobs were angry about Newsweak's article.