Quote Originally Posted by Don Corleone
I hear what you're saying Goofy, but I have to disagree. You are right that WE would probably be more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but if the US Army had acted like a bunch of Boy Scouts, and Newsweek had printed that article, the end result would have been much the same. I don't argue that stories like Abu Grahib (sp?) certainly do little to resist stories like this, but I argue the ability to resist them regardless of the conduct of the military.
I'll concede that you have a partial point there Don. You are right, the true fanatical U.S. haters will always believe the worst about your soldiers no matter what the reality is. But in this case, there have been riots involving hundreds (thousands?) of average citizens, not just extremists. If there hadn't already been so much anger at real U.S. abuses, then the extremists would not have been able to stir up so much violence and hatred so fast. This Newsweek screw-up would not have been the straw that was able to break the camel's back.