Posted on 08/04/2006 6:18:39 AM PDT by brewer1516
It’s not clear which of my experiences last week was more educational: Sitting on a hilltop on Israel's northern border, watching Bint Jbiel getting pummeled by artillery, bombs, and missiles — or meeting the Western television reporters who were covering the war, and seeing firsthand how they made theater out of bloodshed.
NBC’s Ann Curry was on the scene. She was taken to a meadow from which a half-dozen 155mm artillery pieces were pounding away at Hezbollah. Curry approached a resting crew of artillery reservists, put a camera and microphone in the face of one pony-tailed young man, and asked (I quote from memory): “How does it make you feel to be firing artillery into Lebanon that is killing innocent civilians?” Curry, in her other interviews for NBC, has been similarly incredulous at the existence of civilian casualties in war.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
Pollak missed by a mile with this statement
"Maybe they should have thought of that before they sent suicide bombers into our pizza parlors, ma'am."
I agree with you. He provides a thin veneer of circumstatial cover for the journalists but that doesn't answer why the question of civilian casualities is asked in the first place. That is not one that would not come up as often, nor as the first question asked, in a nomal war, a normal war being one where the American people are united behind our effort and the aims of each side properly identified.
I agree. But I think his analysis of the pressies supplying infotainment to the gape-mouthed masses and their manipulation by Hezbollah is spot on.
In the past, reportes were Americans first, journalists 2nd. These days it'a a tie for first between Journalist and Liberal.
What a preposterous notion! I can see it now.
reporterette: Mr. Nasrallah, is it not true that you started this round of fighting by kidnapping and killing Israeli soldiers in sovereign Israel and thereby share the blame for the deaths of innocent Lebanese women and children?
Nasrallah: SMITE THE NECK OF THAT INFIDEL HARLOT!
bloody pause...
Nasrallah: Next question.
Yup. I'm reminded of Dan Rather's sycophantic interview with Saddam Hussein before the invasion. He kept refering to him as "Mr. President" but still refers to OUR president as Mr. Bush (what an asswipe).
Remember Katie Couric's comment after the invasion? "...hopefully he got away." when there was rumor that Hussein made into Syria.
Bttt
Whether one buys the 'clueless' take on the media, this point is spot on -- Hezbollah won this by PR not might:
In other words, Hezbollah does not have a military strategy; it has a media strategy that so far has been chillingly effective. In Lebanon, most civilian casualties are not the product of Israeli overzealousness — they are the most vital, important, and intentional victories in Hezbollah’s campaign. We are witnessing what is perhaps the most successful manipulation of civilian deaths by a terrorist organization to date, and while the reality of the situation is apparent to some observers, most members of the media are either oblivious to their own culpability in spreading propaganda for Hezbollah, or simply don’t mind doing so. Over to you, Ann.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.