Disassociated Press.

An increasingly belligerent White House, not content with the tastefully discreet retraction Newsweek displayed prominently on its back page, is now pressuring Newsweek - by the McCarthyesque strongarm tactics of asking them - to minimize the damage caused by the inaccurate story. At least sixteen Muslims were killed in the riots the false report inspired.

Bush spokesman Scott McClellan did not say that he expected Newsweek to write a story about how great the American military was, but journalists are certain this is only because the journalists questioning him refused to allow him to finish a sentence. He also implied that making a request is not pressure, and that the Afghanistan government is right to hold Newsweek responsible for printing an untrue story.

Prominent journalists fear that this could be the start of an alarming trend in which they would be expected to verify the accuracy of stories before printing them, refrain from printing highly dubious rumors even if they might incite hostility towards America, and possibly even sometimes say positive things about the American military just because they are true.

“After what happened to Dan Rather, you’re afraid of printing anything that you think might be a lie,” one journalist who asked not to be identified said.

Given Newsweek’s record on vital subjects such as the Khmer Rouge, these disturbing possibilities could change the magazine’s content completely.

(For the serious version, go to http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3mi1.htm.)

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