Newsweek Retracts Koran-Desecration

Newsweek has finally admitted the truth. A story it published in its Periscope column which claimed that the military was investigating claims that Guntanamo interrogators had desecrated the Koran in an attempt to break prisoners was completely unsubstantiated. The story had been picked up in the Muslim world and lead to violent protests in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world.

Protests broke out across much of the Muslim world last week after Newsweek reported that U.S. investigators found evidence that interrogators had flushed a copy of Muslim's holy book down a toilet in an attempt to rattle detainees. The violence left about 15 dead and scores injured in Afghanistan.
"It's appalling that this story got out there," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said as she traveled home from Iraq.
"The report had real consequences," McClellan said. "People have lost their lives. Our image abroad has been damaged. There are some who are opposed to the United States and what we stand for who have sought to exploit this allegation."

Now the question comes as to what the ultimate fallout for this debacle will be. Will it lead to a firing, as the Dan Rather fake documents story did? Here's hoping.