Don’t miss the new photos at the end.
Newsweek International reports on worldwide riots and demonstrations in numerous Muslim countries today, caused by Pentagon admissions of mishandling of Koran!
The rallies in Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere followed an admission Thursday by U.S. investigators that Islam’s holy book was mishandled at Guantanamo. But American officials claimed it was often inadvertent and denied that any Qurans were flushed down a toilet, as Newsweek magazine had reported in a now-retracted article … No injuries were reported in Friday’s demonstrations, … (Newsweek/MSNBC)
In Kashmir, where “schools and businesses were closed as part of the protest,” 15,000 people, including women in black veils, marched and “set American flags and copies of the U.S. Constitution ablaze.”
Condoleezza Rice’s speech today at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco was interrupted [PHOTO BELOW FOLD] “by a reenactment of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in which a hooded prisoner stood with his arms outstretched attached to electric wires.”
More below:
From Reuters/Yahoo:
Amid tight security at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall, three women and one man pulled on black hoods and cloaks and stood on their seats, acting out the scene caught in one of the photographs of abuse that undermined U.S. prestige abroad.
Rice initially continued her speech on American foreign policy under President Bush but paused when the protesters shouted “Stop the torture. Stop the killing. U.S. out of Iraq,” as police led them out of the auditorium.
Medea Benjamin, one of the protesters, said they were kept in police custody for about an hour and a half and then released with a misdemeanor citation. “We feel we made our point,” said Benjamin, a founding director of the human rights group Global Exchange.
Elsewhere in the world:
“We will cut off the feet that desecrated the Quran!” the crowd yelled.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, protesters shouted “Go to hell, America!” and waved placards reading “Long Live Islam,” as they burned U.S. and Israeli flags outside the U.S. Embassy. (Newsweek/MSNBC)
CAPTION: Indonesian Muslim students shout slogans during a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta May 27, 2005. (Yahoo Photos)
Burning American flag.
I DEMAND that the Pentagon issue a retraction, and apear on Arab television to discuss their error.
didn’t Newsweek also run a story on the insurgency last year? Those bastards inflamed the insurgents and helped kill our troops!
Quick, someone check the archives and find out if they covered al-Qaeda, Rwanda, AIDS and Clay Aiken!
Are you saying that Clay Aken is a worldwide disaster?
Actually, this story comes from Newsweek’s international news site. I’d better make sure that’s obvious! :):)
Our boy Keith is on the story also tonight. All this is leading up to I think some truly horrible event..like torture of some of our troops if captured in Iraq or Afghanistan..
While people in the US stick their heads in the sand about torture and abuse of Quran etc as somehow either not true they should be made aware of what happened to that one american soldier.
Anyone remember the story about soldiers being trained how to interrogate prisoners at Gitmo? These soldiers were not told that this soldier was really one of them but believed him to be a real prisoner and ended up beating him so badly that he needed much medical care and I believe he ended up getting out of the service…another story hushed up and brushed under that dark, dank rug of secrecy and cover-up-with the complicit media. That story made no waves or news whatsoever.
That was so exciting! There I was at my ‘puter and adding the info about Condi’s speech, and there was my boy Keith on the teevee talking about it too!
I want the pictures that Keith had though! But I can’t find any. That’s the only photo i could find of the protestors at Condi’s speech.
(If anyone finds any, e-mail them to me, and I’ll resize them to fit the site.)
Here’s a small photo of the protest from KRON-TV:
As I recall, the soldier so beaten left the military because he suffered brain damage.
Nice.
This is similar to the Iranian hostage crisis, when many Iranians protested our support of the Shah, one of the most ruthless dictators in history. Muslims are burning flags, copies of the Constitution, and shouting anti-American slogans.
This is one of the saddest times to be an American. Our President is trampling freedom at every turn. While I do not condone burning of the flag, I totally understand their anger at the government’s torture and humiliation of their people.
This could get scary.
do tend to be scary. It is my hope that the crusaders will be persuaded to accept the invitation to cease aggression, disarm, and immediately repatriate their bestial hordes.
Were I a paid consultant to Washington’s warlords, I would consider it irresponsible to advise them otherwise.
The problem is that people are so caught up in their comfort zones that they get uncomfortable when Howard Dean says we’re no safer just because Saddam was caught or when Michael Moore releases F911. How much longer will it be before people are more frightened about what Bush is doing than what liberals are saying and realize it’s the truth?
But I think this is just he beginning of what is going to occur around the world.
What we need perhaps, is anti torture and anti war protests here in US to show we are against this also.
My question is, when will most US citizens wake up and see what this president is doing to our country and kick him the hell out of there.
What more do they need to hear about his abysmal job and just when is Congress going to wake up over this issue of torture and prisioner handling.
If anyone is unlawful combantants, it is the US.
Impeachment is the answer.
I agree with you, Diane. We need to show the world — demonstrably — that we are as opposed to Bush/torture as they are.
I think if you get anything at all in the US, you are going to get demonstrations of people yelling USA is Numba ONE! and waving yellow ribbons and the US flag around, singing songs about boots up asses and lasting 200 years and these colors don’t run. And probably some Koran desecration in some of the more fervid celebrations, just to show Resolve.
If I am not mistaken, the US is just now entering a holiday weekend dedicated to praise of its gunmen, past and present. All of the bomb manufacturers have produced advertisements for the occasion.
Those who oppose US policies are some of the bravest people on earth, but they are also one of the smallest minorities on earth.
There has been a certain amount of wagon-circling, positions solidifying, and that small brave band of US Resistance will inevitably become even smaller. With (the US) or with the terrorists, after all.
All the gray is now smoke be seen over Haditha and Baghdad and Fallujah and Kabul and Kandahar and Gaza. It is probably not a good time for Americans to be looking into mirrors.
” if you get anything at all in the US, you are going to get demonstrations of people yelling USA is Numba ONE …”
We get those every once in a while here … they gather on the big triangle that divides Highway 101 — right next to the Hummer dealership and the RiteAid — and whoop away for the good ol’ US of A.
oh, the looks of self-satisfaction and superiority in their faces.
When the comments keep coming up saying, “Well Diane, I hate to say this”, I think uh oh, what’s coming now…..lol
So please change the comment title…k….
I am feelling a little lightheaded from reading comments….no proper words and no emoticons.
I am going to try to be non political for a few days, lets see if it works.
Guess it’s time to do a happy diary!!!!
but my hands are tied by the prevailing culture of anti-editorism.
I am thinking of organizing a march to combat this.
One has to examine the entire sentence uttered Thursday by Brig. Gen. Jay W. Hood at the Pentagon news briefing to appreciate the fine legal distinctions made:
“I’d like you to know that we have found no credible evidence that a member of the Joint Task Force at Guantánamo Bay ever flushed a Koran down a toilet.”
Not how the only finding of “no credible evidence” only relates to members of the JTF at Gitmo. That leaves open a wealth of others who could well have been responsible for the desecration of the Koran here — CIA or DIA interrogators or intelligence officials, other DoD civilian personnel, etc. That’s a loophole you could fly a C-130 through. Of course, though, it’s those three little words which are the ones that everyone’s latched onto. In fact, however, the Pentagon has left the door open for a later finding of desecration.
But of course the U.S. media has basically missed this loophole, although perhaps the media in the Muslim world is a bit more astute in this regard. Gen. Hood’s statement was deliberately misleading but is probably not provably incorrect — a tactic that this Administration has used innumerable times before (to be fair, both parties love to engage in this kind of hair-splitting to preserve deniability).
Don’t know much about history
Don’t know much biology
Don’t know much about Islam’s book
Don’t know much about the facts we cook
Look, I don’t doubt that Muslims are deeply offended by reports that their holy book has been desecrated.
But I don’t fully buy that the demonstrations are spontaneous expressions of outrage. In my view they have substantial other/prior/additional reasons to hate us. Abu Ghraib comes to mind. Busted down doors and men on the ground with a boot on their head. Gitmo. Confusing or scary checkpoints that result in an innocent families death. Wedding celebrations mistaken for insurgent pot lucks. Relatives who disappear for years at a time. Chaos. Anarchy. Occupation. Rummy’s untidiness.
Where were the demonstrations then?
But if I am wrong, and I could be, if Muslims were not moved to demonstrate about torture, incarceration and death, but are moved to protest disrespect for their religion it shows just how little we understand each other.
Don’t know much about history
Don’t know much biology
Don’t know much about Islam’s book
Don’t know much about the facts we cook
Did you write that?
That’s great stuff. We should use it for an Open Thread zinger!
Thnx. If you can sing, we can take this on the road…
hey now, I’m going to have that tune in my head all day but that’s ok…I always did like Herman’s Hermits and that song. Better than having ‘The Eve of Destruction’ in my head all day I imagine.
I think all the points you mentioned and the rioting about their Holy Book may be one of those ‘the straw that broke the camels back’ type things. I really don’t know but so often it is a smaller issue(although my understanding of Quaran is that that is not that small of an issue for them) after so many cumulative things that finally get to people…or get through to people.
The “artist” as they say was Sam Cooke.
Here is the Herman’s Hermits song you are thinking of:
MRS. BUSH, YOU’VE GOT TWO LOVELY DAUGHTERS
Mrs. Bush, you’ve got two lovely daughters
Girls as sharp as them are somethin’ rare
But it’s sad, their dad doesn’t have a clue
He’s made it clear enough he wants war, not peace, in lieu
I wondered right after I hit post if I was right on my remembering about the Hermits…so glad to know the facts here..as we are a reality based community..thanks.
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#111636281930496496
Friedman wonders why thousands upon thousands protested against the desecration of the Quran and why they do not demonstrate against terrorism in Iraq. The civilian bombings in Iraq are being done by certain extremists, fanatics or militias. What happened in Guantanamo with the Quran and what happens in places like Abu Ghraib is being done systematically by an army- an army that is fighting a war- a war being funded by the American people. That is what makes it outrageous to the Muslim world.
In other words, what happens in Iraq is terrorism, while what happens to Iraqis and Afghanis and people of other nationalities under American or British custody is simply “counter-insurgency” and “policy”. It makes me naseous to think of how outraged the whole world was when those American POW were shown on Iraqi television at the beginning of the war- clean, safe and respectfully spoken to. Even we were upset with the incident and wondered why they had to be paraded in front of the world like that. We actually had the decency to feel sorry for them.
Friedman focuses on the Sunni Arab world in his article but he fails to mention that the biggest demonstrations were not in the Arab world- they happened in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also fails to mention that in Iraq, the largest demonstration against the desecration of the Quran was actually organized, and attended by, Shia.
Luckily for Iraqis, and in spite of Thomas Friedman, the majority of Sunnis and Shia just want to live in peace as Muslims- not as Sunnis and Shia.