Newsweek Was Right: U.S. Southern Command Confirms Koran Abuse

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American jailers at the Guantanamo prison for foreign terrorism suspects splashed a Koran with urine, kicked and stepped on the Islamic holy book and soaked it with water, the U.S. military said on Friday.

U.S. Southern Command, responsible for the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, described for the first time five cases of "mishandling" of a Koran by U.S. personnel confirmed by a newly completed military inquiry, officials said in a statement.

Any surprise that this story was dumped on the media on a Friday evening? (Traditionally, PR-wise, the time best time to release something that you want the least amount of people to see.)

Alysheba, a Daily KOS poster, has a good summary of the way the story was handled on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

Keith Olbermann's Sub Tonight...

..."Alex" somebody, went after the Friday dump HARD. She led off with "The Pentagon released information documenting confirmed cases of Koran desecration at Guantanamo after normal business hours today, in the hopes of minimizing fallout...etc.."

Then, talking to Barry McCafferty, she brought it up AGAIN, saying something like: "Released the info at 7:15 this evening. Fortunately for our viewers, this broadcast doesn't air until EIGHT o'clock, allowing us to bring this to you as our lead story tonight!"

Then she got Howard Fineman from Newsweek saying "I think now it's The Pentagon that needs to review its internal reporting procedures!"

She even got McCafferty - a retired general - to blame Rumsfeld's "improper and likely illegal policies" for the whole torture mess.

I think this Deep Throat thing has energized a lot of reporters. Not that Olbermann's show doesn't usually call it like it is, but there's just a...an enthusiasm...that hasn't been there for years.

And I hope they pound this Friday dump clear into next week.