Another Iceberg story

Reuters, the London Times, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle -- all of these have been running front-page stories with headlines that indicate that a Pentagon investigation has concluded that the U.S. is, indeed, guilty of "Koran abuse" (shudder!).

The submerged parts of this iceberg story include these details:

1. There were no incidents of guards flushing the Koran.
2. All of those who disrespected the Koran were immediately disciplined.
3. The report finds that 4 out of 5 of the incidents occurred before strict guidelines for handling the Koran were sent to guards in January 2003.
4. Some incidents were accidental.
   
5. The report summary states that "the Southern Command policy of Koran handling is serious, respectful and appropriate."
6. There were 15 incidents of prisoners desecrating the Koran, including ripping out pages and (drum-roll, please). . . shoving the pages into the toilet.

Can we put this in perspective? The U.S. is distributing these copies of the Koran to prisoners in the first place! I wonder if any of the beheaded kidnapped victims were allowed a final Eucharist, or were entitled to an evangelical prayer gathering before they were dispatched on videotape . . . .