Yet, I couldn't let the latest MSM flap go without comment. I'm not going to spend too much time on this since the fall out has yet to reach its climax. Suffice it to say Newsweek has entered that black hole from which few return. This saddens me since I happen to think Jon Meacham, some type of managing editor at Newsweek, is top notch with history.
So Newsweek acted foolishly by running with a blurb using only a single source, this is not the same as running something in the local rag implicating Uncle Steve with a drunken night of debauchery only to recant with a one liner saying 'oops, Uncle Steve was just cavorting with Aunt Betty in the back seat of the sedan. Sorry." The magnitude is not on the same level. Pls don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those espousing the WOT at every turn. In fact, I question the need to call it the War on Terrorism since we've had the War on Poverty, War of Drugs, et al and ad nausium, for the past 25 yrs. It just diminishes the importance. The WOT is more of a paradigm shift in attitude, one which Newsweek evidently hasn't caught on to.
It's one thing to disagree with whatever party is in power. It's another to willfully offer specious 'evidence' of an act which is inciteful. Yet, the mantel of 'fake but accurate' which we heard resonating from the CBS debacle, seems to be trying to take hold. The Raw Story is citing several detainees as implicating the US in the debasement of the Koran. Yet nothing can be substantiated. I'm sorry, but I don't trust a word those people say (then again I don't trust the govt, so I'm screwed, eh...)
For all the feigned anger emanating from the ME, I say 'screw `em!!'. Where was the outrage at Muslim desecration of the Church of the Nativity in April of 2002? ? ? ? Oh, wait... I think I hear it now. "It wasn't a true Muslim, it was just some fringe people." Please!!!
That same day, "More than 100 Palestinian gunmen...[including] soldiers and policemen, entered the Church of the Nativity on Tuesday, as Israeli troops swept into Bethlehem in an attempt to quell violence by Palestinian suicide bombers and militias."34 The actual number of terrorists was between 150 and 180, among them prominent members of the Fatah Tanzim. As the New York Times put it, "Palestinian gunmen have frequently used the area around the church as a refuge, with the expectation that Israel would try to avoid fighting near the shrine" [emphasis added].35And in fact this was the case. The commander of the Israeli forces in the area asserted that the IDF would not break into the church itself and would not harm this site holy to Christianity. Israel also deployed more mature and more reserved reserve-duty soldiers in this sensitive situation that militarily called for more agile, standing-army soldiers.36
On the other hand, the Palestinians did not treat it the same way. Not only did they take their weapons with them into the Church of the Nativity and fire, on occasion, from the church, but also reportedly booby-trapped the entrance to the church.37
On April 7, "one of the few priests evacuated from the church told Israeli television yesterday that gunmen had shot their way in, and that the priests, monks and nuns were essentially hostages....The priest declined to call the clergy 'hostages,' but repeatedly said in fluent English: 'We have absolutely no choice. They have guns, we do not.'"38
Christians clearly saw the takeover as a violation of the sanctity of the church. In an interview with CWNews, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican's Undersecretary of State and the top foreign-policy official, asserted that "The Palestinians have entered into bilateral agreements [with the Holy See] in which they undertake to maintain and respect the status quo regarding the Christian holy places and the rights of Christian communities. To explain the gravity of the current situation, let me begin with the fact that the occupation of the holy places by armed men is a violation of a long tradition of law that dates back to the Ottoman era. Never before have they been occupied - for such a lengthy time - by armed men."39 On April 14, he reiterated his position in an interview on Vatican Radio.40
On April 24, the Jerusalem Post reported on the damage that the PA forces were causing:
Three Armenian monks, who had been held hostage by the Palestinian gunmen inside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, managed to flee the church area via a side gate yesterday morning. They immediately thanked the soldiers for rescuing them.
They told army officers the gunmen had stolen gold and other property, including crucifixes and prayer books, and had caused damage....
One of the monks, Narkiss Korasian, later told reporters: "They stole everything, they opened the doors one by one and stole everything....They stole our prayer books and four crosses...they didn't leave anything. Thank you for your help, we will never forget it."
Israeli officials said the monks said the gunmen had also begun beating and attacking clergymen.41When the siege finally ended, the PA soldiers left the church in terrible condition:
The Palestinian gunmen holed up in the Church of the Nativity seized church stockpiles of food and "ate like greedy monsters" until the food ran out, while more than 150 civilians went hungry. They also guzzled beer, wine, and Johnnie Walker scotch that they found in priests' quarters, undeterred by the Islamic ban on drinking alcohol. The indulgence lasted for about two weeks into the 39-day siege, when the food and drink ran out, according to an account by four Greek Orthodox priests who were trapped inside for the entire ordeal....
The Orthodox priests and a number of civilians have said the gunmen created a regime of fear.
Even in the Roman Catholic areas of the complex there was evidence of disregard for religious norms. Catholic priests said that some Bibles were torn up for toilet paper, and many valuable sacramental objects were removed. "Palestinians took candelabra, icons and anything that looked like gold," said a Franciscan, the Rev. Nicholas Marquez from Mexico.42
Now, I'm a firm believer in 'two wrongs don't make a right'. But let's get real. We have the word of some 'detainees' versus documented facts. Oh, let's not forget what those Taliban bastards did to the Buddhas in March of 2001!!
So I don't want to hear from the "Muslims in the street" on this one. Newsweek should be held liable for the deaths and suffer the consequenses. It's a shame, but when 'truth' is fabricated for the purpose of making the Administration of the day look bad, MSM and all of us are ill served.
(tips: Daou and LGF)
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