Of course they are. They are very much involved in the whitewash business because to do otherwise would be to (A. admit that abuses to prisoners do occur (though I'm not sure that this sort of charge even fazes them anymore) and (B. create a spotlight on a region that has otherwise been kind to the administration in the press.

I tend to lean to 'B' because our cultures don't mesh here and the administration didn't need to have a PR battle on yet another front, especially in Afghanistan where we have supposedly had some degree of success in reforming a former foe.

And should we hold Newsweek faultless? No, because they should have been ready to back up that story instead of folding at the first sign of pressure. If it had the merit and was worthy enough to print, it should have been worth their time to defend.

We've created for ourselves the image of an bullying, arrogant and hypocritical nation that has no respect for its own laws and ideals, much less those of anyone else. How could anyone in Washington (or in our own press) find enough credibility to critisize Islamic extremism when we are busy stoking the fire under our own?

Is there any report of the contents of the NewsWeek article that was translated in Pakistan and Afghanistan? That is, Rising Sun has a post about NewsWeek's international version differences than its American counterpart. I've wondered if the article that the rioters read is the same as what the Americans had.