From
Bloggerman
Press Secretary Scott McClellan today got a little more specific about what he meant when he said yesterday that Newsweek had to help repair the "damage." He wants its editors to appear on Arab television networks to explain the story and how badly they screwed it up.
Really? Does McClellan know what he is asking? Because I don't think it's gonna help.
After the break is my is my guess at what the Newsweek appearance would sound like based on the stories in WaPo and NYT
Remember that Newsweek retracted only one part of the report, and that neither their investigation nor that of the Pentagon conclusively denies the reports of Quran abuse. Here, then, is what a Newsweek appearance would sound like:
We had been receiving for some time reports that interrogators at Guantanamo disrespected the Quran as a tactic of intimidation and humiliation. We had a long-time reliable anonymous source who stated that a forthcoming Pentagon report would confirm at least one such incident. We ran the story past two Pentagon officials who neither confirmed nor denied it.
After the riots began we backtracked the story. Our source became uncertain as to whether he saw the reference to the Quran in the toilet in the upcoming report or in another internal Pentagon document. We therefore retracted that part of our story that said that an upcoming report would confirm the allegation.
Yes, Scott. That should set everyone's mind at ease. We really want Newsweek to go on Arab TV and tell them that the only part they are retracting is the Pentagon confirmation of what the entire Arab world has long assumed to be true.