From a reader:

Jonah,
re: your cautionary note of what if it turns out that
the Koran really was desecrated –
It doesn’t matter to me, and I don’t think it should
matter to anyone else. The obsessive focus on the fact
that the story seems to not be true is silly, as far
as I’m concerned.
Think of it like this: say the story actually was
true, and you as a Newsweek editor have the choice of
either running it (knowing the likely consequences) or
discretely approaching military officials with the
story first. Which is the ethical and responsible
thing to do? Seems like a no-brainer to me. The fact
that journalists are so unthinkingly wedded to this
idea that they need to “get out” every little damaging
fact, regardless of its value in being released or the
unhappy side-effects is just sad and makes me respect
them less than I already did.
Russell Wardlow
PS: if you happen to print any part of this, feel free
to use my name. Unlike the apparent predilections of
your other readers, I’m a shameless egomaniacal
attention-seeker.