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Rumors - Right or Wrong #021

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Items on this page were researched by Bill Sanders (aka LYAO Editor or "-LE")

Each item in question is in a white box and listed first, followed by it's status, links to my sources (where I determined the fact was right, wrong, etc.), and any comments I might have on the subject in a light yellow box. ;-)

Any short notes written by me on quoted material are in square brackets ("[" and "]"]

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This forwarded email was added to and parts removed, somewhere during the forwarding process. The email I received will be in white, and the added and missing parts will be in separate markedcontains multiple emails formed into one big one. I've split this one into the original pieces to deal with each separately. See my End Notes (below) for more on the "whole shootin' match."

"In God We Trust"/What's All the Fuss?

AKA: Ask Me if I Care About 'Mishandling' of Koran; I Don't Care

Special Notes:

Because this email apparently had a few modifications, I have "broken it up" to help show how this type of email can change over time and circulation. It is unknown where these modifications took place, the "original" forwarder, or somewhere "down the line".

In this case, not only is the whole email followed by comments I have on the subject in a yellow box, but so are notes about added and missing parts.

While not everything said in the following email was wrong, it appears that MUCH of it is. See below. This came as a single email, so the status, sources and major comments are at the end. It appears that someone, somewhere, sometime has modified even the modifications to the original. -LE

"In God We Trust"

I don't know if the war in Iraq is right or wrong, only God knows that. And I try not to be judgmental about other folks. But I love this lady and what she says and I want everyone to know that. The lady who wrote this letter is Pam Foster of Pamela Foster & Associates in Atlanta. She's been in business since 1980 doing interior design and home planning. She recently wrote the following letter to a family member serving in Iraq. Check it out!

Comment(s):

The above, including the title, appears to have been added to the original forward, even to the one forwarded by Ms Foster.

What's All the Fuss?

The above title, "What's All the Fuss?" was from the email I received.

Four paragraphs from the original article (as well as the title - see Comments, below) were missing from the forwarded email.

Original Title:

Ask Me if I Care About 'Mishandling' of Koran

Missing paragraphs:

First, Newsweek pulled a Dan Rather on us, running a fabricated story just because they wanted it to be true. They told the world that an American guard at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center had ripped pages from a prisoner's Koran and flushed it down a toilet. As a result, innocent people died when practitioners of Islam rioted in protest in Afghanistan.

Oops, said Newsweek, it seems we can't back up our story. Oh well, it's probably true; we just can't prove it. (Isn't it convenient for Newsweek that the media now have "Deep Throat" to talk about so they can revel in their glory days and divert our attention from their criminal negligence.)

The lie heard round the world about the flushed Koran has caused convulsions in the Bush Administration and forced the Pentagon to launch an investigation of unfounded allegations contained in an unsubstantiated story. The results of said investigation are now in, and it seems there are at least five incidents of "mishandling" of the Koran at Gitmo.

Well, guess what? I don't care!

"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11,2001.

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia.

I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

This paragraph from the original article was missing from the forwarded email

I'll care when Clinton-appointed judges stop ordering my government to release photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, which are sure to set off the Islamic extremists just as Newsweek's lies did a few weeks ago.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave Marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran [added to original - and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food] that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you [got - changed from "guessed"] it, I DON'T CARE!

[My highlights - They mark additions and changes to the original email. -bs]

Comment(s):

The above piece was probably the whole, or at least part, of the original forwarded email. Except for the marked parts, it is as I received it.

If you agree with this view point, pass this on to all your e-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior! If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great country.

"If you can read this, thank a teacher! If you are reading it in English, Thank a Veteran."
NOTE: you didn't have to press "1" for English!!!

Amen, God Bless America !!!

Comment(s):

This was not part of the original forwarded article. It was included in the email I received, and MAY have been added by more than one forwarder.

The following was NOT included in the email I received. It is the actual end of the original article.

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist and political speechwriter who has worked for conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations at the federal, state and local levels. His weekly column can be read in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites. Readers can e-mail him at dpatton@neonramp.com.

--------------------

Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

Status: WRONG

Source(s):

Comment(s):

[Believe it or not, I wrote this BEFORE I read the Snopes piece. I DID read the Truth or Fiction and the Sarasota Speaks pieces.]

Pamela Foster did NOT write this. Apparently, she cut-and-pasted an article she liked (without attribution, apparently), or simply forwarded an email she had received from another, and DID send it to a relative serving in Iraq. Because of her business (and/or because she wants one) her email client automatically put her business signature on the email. Because of this (as happens again and again in forwarding email), the quoted material has been attributed to her.

The original article, as you can see above, was actually written by Doug Patton and published 6/6/2005, at Ask Me if I Care About 'Mishandling' of Koran -- Doug Patton -- GOPUSA. The first place I found the original article was at The American Daily - I don't care! (June 6 2005: Ask Me if I Care About 'Mishandling' of Koran) - Doug Patton.

Google search for one of the more distinctive lines in the original article (in the larger white box, above) and see how many people have quoted this on message boards, forums and blogs. Many of these also include comments by readers.

This is listed in my "(False?) Attributions" section because the email I received was falsely attributed to Ms Foster. I COULD just have easily have put it in the "Attempted Assassination (of Character)" section, as, while the statements made may be essentially true, the original article seems to blame ALL Muslims and Islam for the acts of a few. (If that was the intention or not, people have taken it that way. For example, the version received by Snopes included the racist:

I don't give a sheet either about those sheet heads!!!!!

Simply do the Google Search, noted above, and read what people have written about it.)

As for me, this one prompted me to write ... About DANGERS of forwarded email attribution. and, after some research, about the article. See the following:

re: "In God We Trust"/What's All the Fuss?
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