First, only so much blame for the deaths in Afghanistan can be laid on Newsweek's doorstep. These rioters on the other side of the world don't know or care if this story is true. There have been other "atrocity" stories with more substance that this one, but no rioting occurred. The lion's share of the blame has to go to the proudly ignorant and superstitions culture that, as Daly Thoughts puts it, "...thinks that violence and murder is an acceptable response to being offended (among other things)". The take-away lesson for the press should be that we are dealing with a dysfunctional culture. That's what we're fighting against in the Middle East. Manhattan logic does not apply.
Having said that, what is up with this lame "Well, the Pentagon didn't deny it, so we figured it must be true" defense? As if it's the Pentagon's job to chase down every wild-eyed accusation before Newsweek's deadline. That doesn't really sound like a job for the US military. It almost sounds like the type of work that would be done by...oh, I don't know...a journalist.
And, lest I let Newsweek of too lightly, it really peeves me that these journalists are ready to buy anything that paints our soldiers as war criminals. As Glenn Reynolds puts it:
When you go out of your way to report the bad news, and bury the good news, when you're credulous toward critics (remember the Boston Globe porn photos?) and treat all positive news as presumptive lies, and when it's clear that the enemy relies on press behavior in planning its campaigns, then you've got a problem.
By the way, when the News Hour first came on, I was reading some blogs, not paying too much attention, when I heard this very articulate man speaking in such a straightforward style that I had to look up to see who it was. It was Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine. I guess bloggers are some of the only people comfortable with having an outspoken, possibly unpopular, opinion.
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