Today’s Associated Press story on the mishandling of the Koran by Americans quotes, relies upon, the Pentagon, including Brig. General Jay Hood, commander at Guantanamo. The Pentagon said it found five such instances, but could not substantiate a report that the Islamic holy book was thrown into a toilet.
What impresses me here is what the story does not include.
There is no mention of Secretary Rumsfeld’s obfuscations about why our soldiers in Iraq lacked proper armor on certain vehicles.
There is no mention that when supporters of the Iraq War, mind you, ask why he embarked on the adventure with insufficient troops, he routinely answers with a patently false story - that he gave the generals what they asked for. (Yes, he did, after firing those who said we would need more boots on the ground.)
There is no mention of the Pentagon’s lies to Pat Tillman’s family. He’s the professional football player who was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire, something the Pentagon didn’t think the Tillmans or the nation deserved to know.
And, of course, ther is no suggestion that the Pentagon lies routinely.
Now you cannot blame the reporter for these omissions. He cannot nor can any reporter tell the whole story in every report. That would produce a daily newspaper as heavy as the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Lacking that background, however, the AP story in question probably leaves the average reader with the impression that the Pentagon is an authority here rather than a biased participant given to lying.
Which, come to think of it, is not just a weakness of journalism. A respect for authority is fundamental – which is to say, deeper than politics. Nor is it exclusive to the political right. No, much of the left doesn’t differ on authority; it merely substitutes left wing for right wing idols.