Can someone help me with this paragraph from Howie Kurtz’s article in Wednesday’s Post …
The Newsweek report triggered protests that turned violent in Afghanistan and other countries, causing at least 16 deaths, although the degree to which the article was responsible remains unclear. Pentagon officials have blamed Newsweek, which is owned by The Washington Post Co., for sparking the violence, but Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week that his senior commander in Afghanistan had told him the riots were “not at all tied to the article.”
The first sentence <$Ad$> does not necessarily contain a contradiction. One can trigger an event and yet not bear moral culpability for the outcome. But the following sentence leads one to believe that we’re not talking about such a subtle distinction.
If I’m not mistaken what Kurtz says here is essentially this: “The Newsweek report triggered riots in which many people were killed, although it’s not clear how much the article triggered them. Pentagon officials have claimed Newsweek is responsible, although last week the chief Pentagon official said they weren’t responsible.”
If someone can help me get my head around this one, I’d be much obliged.
