A Lebanese man escapes from a gasoline station after it was hit by an Israeli air strike in Saida, south Lebanon, July 15, 2006. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
Yesterday the Pentagon announced plans to send more jet fuel to Israel.
I see. More flights to bomb Lebanon. More flights to bomb Gaza. Maybe Syria? Maybe Iran?"The jet fuel will be consumed while (Israel's) aircraft (are) in use to keep peace and security in the region," the notice to Congress said.
Meanwhile, consumers of U.S. TV "news" are shielded from the awful reality. Well, some people's awful reality. Eric Boehlert spent yesterday keeping track:
Have we are arrived at a pass in which that bellicose demagogue, President Ahmadinejad of Iran, sounds like a sane man?...throughout the day CNN repeatedly reported on the lone Israeli civilian causality without making any mention of the more than 50 Lebanese civilian casualties. To be exact, CNN did that at 10:31 a.m., 11:02, 12:09 p.m., 12:19, 1:00, 1:30, 1:52, 2:00, 2:17, 2:30, 2:50, and 4:04.
"This situation cannot last, and one day the protectors of the Zionist regime -- the US in particular -- will have to explain themselves and be judged by the conscience of humanity," he added.
11 comments:
Hey Jan, are you back in the states? if not stay safe! I just remembered you had been visiting the middle east!
Yeah - I'm personally fine -- marooned in Massachusetts caring for a sick friend.
But I was just looking at a picture from Beirut here that looks a hell of a lot like a photo I took from a friend's balcony a month ago -- except mine doesn't have a plume of smoke from an Israeli bomb rising over it.
I'm feeling pissy and worried about friends.
That was quite an interesting post by Eric Boehlert over at the "Huffington Post," which I have stopped reading partly because their comments policies have gotten so off-kilter. Still, the published comments to his post about bias at CNN were fascinating and pretty overwhelmingly angry about the situation.
Say what you want about Ted Turner, but he did create an internationally trusted news brand out of the United States that was unprecedented. One of his greatest acts was simply banning the use of the word "foreign" or "foreigner" when referring to any country or person, which in its own way was quite revolutionary.
Though we don't exactly know the details, he got swallowed up by the conglomerates and now domestic CNN is All-Zionist-Crap All-The-Time, except for its forays into Missing Blonde Women 24-Hour-News-Coverage. It's pretty repulsive. Let's hope this is their last stand because I get the feeling not a lot of people are buying it this time around.
I should have written "a lot of people aren't buying it this time around," but perhaps the Freudian slip was meaningful. People still ARE buying it.
the US has Created the fire. without the american planes and the american fuel and the american economic aid and the military aid and the american support and the silence of the american people over all this and for decades now, the fire wouldn't have started.
from beirut, lebanon
The coverage is so biased in these not-so-subtle ways...this morning I was reading today's Chronicle and the only pic they showed of an Israeli attack in Lebanon was almost a picturesque explosion, while the images they printed of Israeli suffering were two children mourning the death of another and a bombed out building with a fatigued soldier standing next to it.
I have been watching the news from CBS, NBC, and PBS for the past couple of days. Each of these news agencies has shown pictures from the streets and hospitals of Beirut as well as from the buildings in Northern Israel.
I agree that the Israelis are over-reacting to Hizbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers earlier this week. I likewise believe that the United States' diplomatic response to violence in the Middle East to be unreasonable and one-sided. Why isn't the Secretary of State or some other diplomat (Colin Powell, former Sen. Mitchell in the region on the behalf of the United States)?
That being said, I do not understand what Hizbollah's strategic and political reasons are for precipitating a violent reaction from the State of Israel. United Nations Resolution 1515 was passed as a international consensus for preventing war in the Middle East. yet, here we are today.
Is it the intention of Hizbollah and their supporters in Iran and Syria to create a state of regional war in the Middle East? Is it Hizbollah's desire to have a civil war in Lebanon not unlike the one that occurred there in the 1980s?
I've sought to offer my reflections @ Vocatio! in as balanced a way as possible. However, I am quite frankly overwhelmed at the distinct possibility of war in the Middle East. What means shall progressive Christians such as myself take to prevent this war from unfolding when there is such a remote possibility of reconciliation between Hamas, Hizbollah and the State of Israel?
Here's a well-written piece taking apaart the assumptions in a NYT's editorial.
This story" of a family turned away by the UN is simply heart-breaking.
Will the world ever again remember UNR 242?
Ack. That first link is wrong. Here's the correct link to the story.
i guess that most of the commentators are US citizens. it is interesting to read that none seems to feel responsible for what is going on in my part of the world, not even the blogger.
as if israel had nothing to do with either the politics of the usa, with the american taxpayers and most of all as if the actions of israel were not mainly the product of the silence of the american public.
but what's new! in lebanon we have known that since 1968 when israel started bombing us. and we will survive as we did so many times already. and we will get tourists again who will wonder at the beauty of the place and the kindness of its people :)
so please no need to worry and turn off cnn. war is not to be watched passively and with a clear conscious.
from beirut, lebanon
Dear Ms. Tina: None of the Americans commenting here have a clear conscience at this moment, and frankly some of us are deeply ashamed. However, there's only so much we can do without being thrown in jail or murdered ourselves.
Please accept our deepest apologies and sadness for what is being done with our name, our money, our energy.
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