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Lebanon according to Hezbollah
National Post ^ | 2006-07-29 | Robert Fulford

Posted on 07/29/2006 6:27:12 PM PDT by Clive

Nobody would trust terrorists in any other situation, but we journalists are such compassionate humanitarians that our brains freeze and our skepticism dissolves when Hezbollah utters two words, "innocent civilians."

We believe them because on the ground in Lebanon we have no one else to believe. Of course, they can deal in fiction, lacking free and inquisitive reporters of their own. Nevertheless, nearly every journalist in the world seems willing to repeat Hezbollah figures on civilians killed by Israeli bombs, now one of the big issues of the crisis.

But are the numbers accurate? How many of those "civilians" were Hezbollah warriors? We don't know.

CNN leads the coalition of the gullible. A CNN correspondent, Nic Robertson, admits that he works with Hezbollah because it's the only game in town. To get pictures of a damaged south Beirut neighbourhood, he followed a Hezbollah press officer's instructions. "Just look," said the Hezbollah man. "Look at this building. Is it a military base, or just civilians living in this building?"

During his original broadcast on CNN (or Certainly Not the News, as some Israelis call it), Robertson appeared to agree with his guide. Later, challenged by Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post on another CNN program, Reliable Sources, Robertson acknowledged that Hezbollah told him where to shoot and allowed no time to investigate what the bombed houses held. He said there was no doubt that Israeli bombs were in fact hitting Hezbollah facilities, a point he didn't make on the news.

Hezbollah grants or withholds permission for any journalistic visit, then supervises it. Asked to take journalists to a hospital, it can lead them to a ward containing war-wounded children. Robertson's crew stayed nowhere for more than 10 or 15 minutes and literally ran through Beirut neighbourhoods, guided by Hezbollah.

Robertson admitted that Lebanon stories should be treated with "more than a grain of salt." But that's what he and others don't provide. During this entire crisis I have not once heard anyone on TV say: "All facts and pictures I have just delivered are Hezbollah-approved, so treat them warily."

Israel sets out to avoid hitting civilians but doubtless some adults who die in the bombing of southern Lebanon are indeed innocent. They are left in the path of Israeli bombs by Hezbollah so that their deaths will be mourned on TV and in editorials appearing a few hours later in Boston or Melbourne or Oslo. And they are sacrificed so that Kofi Annan, that pathetic incompetent, can once more pose as a serious international servant by criticizing Israel for excessive bombing.

The dead are afterwards treated as Islamic martyrs, though they didn't volunteer. As for the children, what can we say about the manhood of someone who places rocket launchers where children live? There's no adequate word, but if the children are harmed, then the guilt is Hezbollah's. As Alan Dershowitz put it, "They launch anti-personnel rockets designed to maximize enemy civilian casualties, then they cry 'human rights' when their own civilians -- behind whom they are deliberately hiding -- are killed." Hezbollah imitates the late Yasser Arafat's PLO, which was notorious for hiding munitions and killers in dense civilian neighbourhoods.

Israel's recent history is littered with terminology left behind by failed diplomacy. "The peace process" lasted a long time but died with the suicide bombers of the second intifada. That led to the "two-state solution," followed by "the quartet" (America, EU, UN, Russia), which sponsored the "Roadmap for Peace." These terms were grounded in mendacity. They meant Israel and foreign governments, including Canada's, had to pretend they took seriously every career terrorist, even Arafat, who claimed to want peace.

Now Israel finds itself dealing with fresh language games. Much of the world claims that it hasn't shown restraint and has attacked in a disproportionate rather than proportionate way -- though no one says what "proportionate" means. How do you deal with killers who send death from private houses and use civilians as human shields? My guess is that people like Annan want the bombing to stop so that the UN can go back to doing nothing while saying much.

Israel showed restraint for six long years, waiting for someone to stop Hezbollah from collecting armaments. Perhaps the "international community" considered that restraint admirable, but it meant that this summer about a third of Israelis are within range of a ferocious enemy's 12,000 rockets. That may explain why the word "restraint" no longer plays a large part in the vocabulary of Israel.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Israel; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2006israelwar; canada; canadalebanon; cnn; lebanon; nationalpost

1 posted on 07/29/2006 6:27:13 PM PDT by Clive
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To: Alberta's Child; albertabound; AntiKev; backhoe; Byron_the_Aussie; Cannoneer No. 4; ...

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2 posted on 07/29/2006 6:27:41 PM PDT by Clive
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To: Clive
It appears that Israel will accomplish only a fraction of what they needed to accomplish in destroying Hezbollah. Their ground attack seems timid and defensive. I am very disappointed they didn't kick a-- and take names.
3 posted on 07/29/2006 6:30:49 PM PDT by GeorgefromGeorgia
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To: GeorgefromGeorgia

How do you know that's true? Which news organization are you relying on to tell the truth?


4 posted on 07/29/2006 7:10:31 PM PDT by speekinout
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To: Clive
As for the children, what can we say about the manhood of someone who places rocket launchers where children live?

I'm going out on a limb here right now and guessing...these are not manly men?

Or how about strapping bombs on your own children? Not manly men. The whole bunch of creeps.

5 posted on 07/29/2006 7:20:02 PM PDT by Fishtalk (http://patfish.blogspot.com/)
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To: Clive; GMMAC; Pikamax; Former Proud Canadian; Great Dane; Alberta's Child; headsonpikes; Ryle; ...
Canada ping.

Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.

6 posted on 07/29/2006 7:35:54 PM PDT by fanfan (WAW - Women Against Weenification!)
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To: Clive

CNN leads the coalition of the gullible

So true!


7 posted on 07/29/2006 7:47:39 PM PDT by Valin (http://www.irey.com/)
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To: GeorgefromGeorgia
I am very disappointed.......>>>>>>>

Its not over yet. Jennifer Griffin just reported on FOX NEWS that the Israelis are entering South Lebanon with bulldozers, leveling Houses, some of the dozers may be remote controlled:

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To: InterceptPoint

I wonder is they are using these dozers

July 27, 2006 | 11:24 AM InRob Ltd., a leader in the development and production of advanced wireless control systems and integrated solutions for unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), today announced that the first products for a development project involving Caterpillar, Ramta and InRob, are in their final stages of production and anticipates imminent delivery.

"The delivery of these first products signifies a significant milestone in InRob's relationship with its partners. The first orders have been received and products will soon be rolling off the assembly line, with many repeat orders anticipated. We are proud and pleased to enter into the global UGV market, estimated at several hundreds of millions of dollars, with partners of such high caliber and are confident that with such strategic partners, we will become a significant and dominant player in this market. We have strong expectations to expand into additional development projects with these partners," says Mr. Ben Tsur Joseph, CEO of InRob.

The modified Caterpillar multi-purpose platform complete with InRob's new remote control system is uniquely designed to meet the growing global demand for a reliable, rugged multi-purpose platform with remote control capabilities uniquely suited to military, law enforcement and defense applications.

The Caterpillar development project follows InRob's successful development of a remote control system for Caterpillar D9 bulldozers several months ago. InRob's remotely controlled Caterpillar D9 passed the most stringent testing by the IDF and was declared suitable for use by military units for work in dangerous conditions and unstable terrain.

"As one of the leading factories of IAI (Israel Aircraft Industries), Ramta has extensive experience and expertise, and an outstanding global reputation as a defense manufacturer. We are very pleased to extend our fruitful work on one of the most popular Caterpillar platforms in the world, together with Ramta, a defense industry leader whose products reflect uncompromising quality," adds Ben Tsur Joseph, CEO of InRob. "This order is a significant milestone that opens up a vast horizon for the company in the global UGV market."

601 posted on 07/29/2006 9:50:21 PM EDT by janetjanet998

8 posted on 07/29/2006 7:51:14 PM PDT by Candor7 (Into Liberal flatulance goes the best hope of the West, and who wants to be a smart feller?)
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To: Clive

"As for the children, what can we say about the manhood of someone who places rocket launchers where children live?"

Hezbolah is manned by cowards that cannot fight a "man's" war. They hide behind women and children, causing them to be hurt, and then scream foul. Hezbolah has to go - not figurately but literally. Everyone of them need to be exterminated as the vermin they are. No mercy - show them the "black flag."


9 posted on 07/29/2006 7:57:18 PM PDT by Sola Veritas (Trying to speak truth - not always with the best grammar or spelling)
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To: Berosus; Cincinatus' Wife; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; FairOpinion; ...
Nobody would trust terrorists in any other situation, but we journalists are such compassionate humanitarians that our brains freeze and our skepticism dissolves when Hezbollah utters two words, "innocent civilians." ...[N]early every journalist in the world seems willing to repeat Hezbollah figures on civilians killed by Israeli bombs, now one of the big issues of the crisis.
G'night all.
10 posted on 07/29/2006 8:36:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (updated my FR profile on Thursday, July 27, 2006. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: GeorgefromGeorgia

They aren't ready yet to go into the tunnels and cannot destroy the bunkers with current munitions.

Once there are bunker busters on station, the hezzies will be coming out of the bunkers with their ears bleeding. Then Israel will pick them off one by one.


11 posted on 07/29/2006 9:17:55 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Democrats - The reason we need term limits)
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To: SunkenCiv

That goofball Alex Jones of infowars has a radio show now .... he likes to quote Hezbollah without crediting them in his quest to discredit our government and the war against terror. I guess people are falling for this.


12 posted on 07/30/2006 7:59:15 AM PDT by ValerieUSA
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To: speekinout

Just watch FNC. The IDF is not sending even a division of troops into Lebanon. They have barely moved more than a few miles from the border.


13 posted on 07/30/2006 8:52:02 AM PDT by GeorgefromGeorgia
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To: Clive

Only Liberal Media stands in the way of freedom and hope for a transformed Middle East.

Job No.1 for patriots is destroying Enemy No. 1. - LIBERAL MEDIA.


14 posted on 07/30/2006 9:00:33 AM PDT by Stallone (Mainstream Media is dead. I helped kill it.)
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To: ValerieUSA

Not to worry. I'm sure the left wing intellectual giants who frequent his show will recognize that.


15 posted on 07/30/2006 6:34:08 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (updated my FR profile on Thursday, July 27, 2006. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Ain't it the truth! "Journalists" rate about the same as used car dealers, politicians, and Amway uplines.


16 posted on 07/31/2006 5:46:52 AM PDT by Convert from ECUSA (The Arab League jihad continues on like a fart in an elevator - FR American in Israel)
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