As the blog Riding Sun noted yesterday, the Qu'ran-flushing urban legend Newsweek printed earlier this month wasn't their first excursion into anti-American pandering abroad. In February, while they printed innocuous covers of George Bush and Oscar nominees for their American editions, the weekly magazine used this cover in Japan:

The translation of the headline is "The Day America Died," in an apparent reference to George Bush's re-election. Instead of informing us of our demise here in the States, however, Newsweek gave us a picture of George Bush with the headline, "America Leads ... But Is Anyone Following?" Apparently, Newsweek somehow believes that corpses lead and that some people follow them.

Magazines with foreign editions routinely edit for their target populations. However, Newsweek's editorial choices for Japan, a staunch ally of the US, do not appear to reflect their market but an editorial desire to undermine American ties to the Japanese -- a similar impulse as the publication of the false desecration story. It also demonstrates a pattern of anti-American sentiment and editorial direction at Newsweek that none of Richard Smith's non-apology apologies addresses.

Instead of putting the American flag in the trash, I'd suggest Americans put Newsweek and their reporters and editors there instead.

UPDATE: CQ reader Mr. Michael corrects me (ellipses in the original):

On the Newsweek covers.... check Riding Sun again; the "Bush" Cover is for the English Language International version... the Domestic Issue Cover showed three clods from Hollywood, with a cover story about the upcoming Oscars. The Anti-American 'news article' wasn't even IN the domestic version, but it was in the English Language International version... Cowards. They can undermine the U.S. in multiple languages, just not in America itself.

Thanks for the clarification.

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