Breaking: the Koran was abused

Yes, there is a slight hint of sarcasm in the title of this diary. Can't help it. These reports of Koran abuse have been circulating for some time now,  and  have already been reported in major media outlets.

Raw story reports:

Where the Newsweek report likely erred was in saying that the U.S. was slated to acknowledge desecrating the Koran in internal investigations, and in relying on a single anonymous source to make grave allegations. But reports of desecration are manifold.

Raw story goes on to highlight a hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay as a result of Koran desecration:

One such incident--during which the Koran allegedly was thrown in a pile and stepped on--prompted a hunger strike among Guantanamo detainees in Mar. 2002, which led to an apology. The New York Times interviewed former detainee Nasser Nijer Naser al-Mutairi May 1, who said the protest ended with a senior officer delivering an apology to the entire camp.

"A former interrogator at Guantanamo, in an interview with the Times, confirmed the accounts of the hunger strikes, including the public expression of regret over the treatment of the Korans," Times reporters Neil A. Lewis and Eric Schmitt wrote in "Inquiry Finds Abuses at Guantanamo Bay."

The hunger strike and apology story was also confirmed by another former detainee, Shafiq Rasul, interviewed by the UK Guardian in 2003 (James Meek, "The people the law forgot," Guardian, Dec. 3, 2003) It was also confirmed by former prisoner Jamal al-Harith in an interview with the Daily Mirror (Rosa Prince and Gary Jones, "My Hell in Camp X-ray World Exclusive," Daily Mirror, Mar. 12, 2004).

The war in Afghanistan and the resulting devastated infrastructure would have naturally inhibited the spread of such a story. But the news has caught up with the movement of time in Afghanistan, and yes, Ricky, the U.S. gov't also has some "s'plainin to do". I doubt that the "mob" will be mollified with the Newsweek retraction. Do they have any reason to believe us now?