Pentagon on the Koran

In a statement released after business hours on Friday night and after the major TV networks had aired evening news, the Pentagon confirmed several incidents where the Koran had been mishandled at Guantanamo but insisted that it was a " rare occurrence." In one incident, a soldier urinated outside of an air vent and, according to the Pentagon statement, "the wind blew his urine through the vent" and into a cell block; the prisoner and his Koran were splashed with urine. In August 2003, night-shift soldiers threw water balloons on prisoners and their Korans. In addition, ; one Koran was stepped on; another Koran was kicked; and one had an obscenity written in English inside

According to Newsday, the investigation, headed by Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, also "found 15 incidents where detainees mishandled Qurans, including three where they placed the books or torn-out pages into toilets."

ABC, Reuters, Telegraph