The Insane War On Lebanon & The Related Propaganda

[norml]

The Insane War On Lebanon & The Related Propaganda
Friday, 21 July 2006, 1:48 pm
Opinion: Scoop Blogwatch

SCOOP BLOGWATCH

This Insane War On Lebanon, And The Related Propaganda

By Tony Brasunas
07.19.2006
Garlic & Grass - http://www.garlicandgrass.org

The only blemish on my happy return to the United States after six weeks of travels in Europe during the World Cup has been this insane, disgusting war Israel and the United States have launched on Lebanon.

The propaganda assaulting the American population via the mainstream media today is possibly even worse than it was during the initial invasion of Iraq. We're led to believe that Israel is simply attacking Hezbollah nay, defending itself against Hezbollah, an implacably evil foe, and not actually attacking a sovereign nation. "Israel and Hezbollah Trade Fierce Missile Attacks," headlines the San Francisco Chronicle, as if the two are 'trading' something, as if they are equal foes, when one is a nation, the regional military superpower, a combatant which wields nuclear weapons and receives billions in military aid from the US every three months, while the other is a weak band of (depending on your perspective) terrorists or freedom fighters intent on ridding southern Lebanon of the Israeli troops and Mossad agents who have been in southern Lebanon for three decades. For it's easier to propagandize people to hate and see as less than human a group with a strange-sounding name than it is to legitimize the bombardment and invasion of a nation. A headline like, Israel Bombs Lebanon All Night, Killing Hundreds would be a bit too accurate for comfort.

The New York Times: "Israel Pounds Lebanon After Hezbollah Launches Missile Attacks." As if Israel did not strike first and strike harder. Hundreds of Lebanese civilians are dead, hundreds more wounded. Israel has lost about a dozen civilians and perhaps a dozen soldiers. One will be led to forget this disparity by reading American or British media.

This situation is not black and white. There is history and religion and racism and fear and terrorism to consider. But the bias of the media in this country defies belief. Consider the story of the abductions, the ostensible casus belli. Never reported in the American media were the abductions on June 24 that likely started the abduction tradeoff.

A quick timeline:

June 24th - Israel kidnaps two Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

June 25th - Palestinian militants kidnap an Israeli soldier.

June 28th - Israel kidnaps 64 members of the Palestinian government.

July 12th - Hezbollah kidnaps two Israeli soldiers.


snip


http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0607/S00313.htm

[CuteNFuzzy]

1. Propaganda and lies

Are part of the battle against all of us, particularly in a Democratic society

Very good article thank you.

[norml]

11. You're welcome! Here's another... "A New War Frenzy"

July 20, 2006 at 14:11:57

A New War Frenzy

by Robert Parry


http://www.opednews.com

Just as Saddam Hussein was cast as the monster whose elimination would transform Iraq into a democratic oasis, Hezbollah and its allies in Syria and Iran are presented now as the crux of all evil in the Middle East whose military defeat will bring a new day.

Inside the United States, many of the same politicians and pundits who stampeded the nation into Iraq are back again urging the application of even more violence. While George W. Bush and his neoconservative advisers may be leading the herd, influential Democrats - like Hillary Clinton and Alan Dershowitz - are running with this pack, too.

But the ease with which these Middle East hawks tolerate the slaughter of Arabs in Lebanon - as well as in Iraq and in the Palestinian territories - has a flavor of racism that has poisoned U.S. policy as far as many Muslims are concerned and indeed has strengthened popular support for Islamic extremists on the Arab street.

On July 17, New York Sen. Clinton shared the stage in a pro-Israel rally with Dan Gillerman, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations who has espoused anti-Arab bigotry in the past and now proudly defends Israel's "disproportionate" violence against Lebanese civilians.

"Let us finish the job," Gillerman told the crowd. "We will excise the cancer in Lebanon" and "cut off the fingers" of Hezbollah. Responding to international concerns that Israel was using "disproportionate" force by bombing Lebanon and killing hundreds of civilians, Gillerman said, "You're damn right we are."


snip


http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_robert_p_060720_a_new_war_frenzy.htm


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1692254

[wakeme2008]

2. kick and nom :)

[Cooley Hurd]

3. I hadn't heard about the kidnapping of Palestinians on 6/24...

I was under the impression that this (recent escalation) started with the Israeli missile attack on Palestinians on a Gaza beach. Thanks for the article - K&R!:thumbsup:

[Tesha]

6. It never actually "starts"; there's always an earlier event.

One thing you can be sure of: If anyone points to an event
as "the start" of the current conflict, then that person
is pointedly incorrect; there's ALWAYS an earlier
event in the long, long sequence of events that have led
us to the tragedies we face today.

Pick any kidnapping/capture/arrest/detention (whatever the
media happens to call that particular one). It's ALWAYS
in retaliation for an earlier kidnapping/capture/arrest/
detention. Pick any retaliatory attack; same principle. It's
always a self-perceived retaliation for some earlier attack.

At some point, one side or another has to simply decide to stop.
Either that, or it won't end until the last combatant is dead
on one or both sides of the conflict.

Tesha

[Ravenseye]

4. kick - people should be aware of the timeline

not that everyone cares, but they should...

[xchrom]

5. kick

[helpman]

7. Hear, Hear

Excellent post.

[BeHereNow]

8. Welcome to DU!

And I agree, EXCELLENT post, now sit back and
watch the swarm of "SUPPORT ISRAEL, no matter WHAT!"
posters show up...
heh-heh.
BHN

[mom cat]

9. Thanks for the article ... esp the simple,clear timeline at the end!

[samhsarah]

10. K&R

Enough with the propaganda already.

[oberliner]

12. Not Black and White indeed

Regarding the first incident in the timeline:

June 24th - Israel kidnaps two Palestinian civilians in Gaza

I find the use of the word "kidnap" here an interesting choice.

Aljazeera describes the same incident with the headline:

"Israeli troops arrest two in Gaza raid"

Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/210A85AB-DA23-4A86-B49F-2243255AE8AC.htm

That same article in Aljazeera took the time to note:

"An army spokeswoman confirmed troops had entered Gaza and detained the men, saying they were Hamas fighters who had planned to carry out an anti-Israeli attack."

To describe the incident with the sentence cited in the original post seems manipulative in the same sorts of ways that the MSM is being manipulative

Aljazeera's own timeline regarding the Gaza offensive begins not with that event but with:

Sunday, June 25: Palestinian armed groups launch an attack on an army post on the Israel-Gaza border. They kill two soldiers and capture a third.

Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4EBC6739-C909-45FF-827A-7AC49447D68E.htm

It is interesting that the original post does not make mention of the two Israelis killed in the attack.