That "music" sound in the background of the Fox "report" (far more likely to go unnoticed) is almost as effective as that solid black highlighter they use in the Department of Defense. I'm assuming (as I have no other access to Fox) that the "music" effect ends when the serious news reporting begins - actually as a way of alerting the audience that it's time to pay attention.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

It is always interesting to me to see how one sided people can be. Hezbollah (a known and declared terrorist organization) kidnaps, holds a country hostage, Lebanon, and packs its bombs with bolts, nail, bb's and whatever else it can find to do the most bodily damage, and deliberately targets civilians, schools, and hospitals. What is the reaction? Let us condemn Israel for trying to defend it's innocent citizens. Why not try to imagine what it must be like to live in Israel and never know when a loved one might be killed by a homicide bomber. Leaving Lebanon, leaving Gaza and plans to leave most of the West Bank mean nothing to you guys.
This is one liberal that understands the existential threat these terrorists pose to the Israelis.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The filtering of US news regarding the middle east is done by a variety of entities, not the least of which was created by Israel called Hasbara after the 1982 slaughter in Lebanon. For more information, see http://video.google.com/videoplay?
docid=-7828123714384920696&sourceid=docidfeed&hl=en

More information about Hasbara is available from Sourcewatch at http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hasbara

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Before I go on, I'd just like to say that both Israel and Hezbollah suck incomprehensible amounts of dick, and the leaders of both have more than proven their absolute moral bankruptcy. Both attacked civilians, and both used powerful, incredibly deadly weapons to do it. Israel just has bigger guns, so naturally their military is going to be a lot better at it. This doesn't mean that Hezbollah wouldn't be on the radar for doing the same thing, though, and really I bet they would have if they had the chance.

To those of you who are actually stupid enough to be polarized by this issue, here's something to think about - It doesn't matter who has the bigger body count, what weapons were used, or who shot first. Innocent people are dead, and clearly no efforts have been made on either side to prevent this or reduce the number of civilians caught in the crossfire. No matter what color you paint it, war always seems to come out one shade of ugly.

That's not the point of this comment, though.

What I actually wanted to say was the reason we're not going to hear a single word about Israel's cluster bombs is because one, it'll look like we're demonizing an ally, and two, it'll look like we're sympathizing with Hezbollah when we're really sympathizing with Lebanese civilians. Dumb as most folk are, it's an easy mistake to make. "Oh noes! They're condeming Israel for a war crime! They must be with the terrorists! God forbid my tiny almost nonexistant brain be capable of imagining things in more than just black-and-white terms! What is this grey area you speak of? I have to pick a side!" Remind you of anybody you know?

It's pretty clear both 'sides' are pretty evil. One side's just a lot better at it. It's the thought that counts, though, and that's what most people just don't get. It would reflect very poorly on us as a country to have our mainstream media ripping one of our allies a new asshole while they supposedly wage war against an enemy aligned with that enigmatic foe known as the 'terrorist', even if we're just pointing out that they're both in error. Many of our fellow citizens would feel the same way, and that's exactly why you won't see this shit on television.

In before flaming - Oh shit!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

CNN did better than you suggest. There was a serious piece on cluster bombs on the 10 p.m. news several days ago.

In general the 10 p.m. show has deteriorated since Aaron Brown was replaced by Anderson Cooper, devoting unconscionable amounts of time to tabloid news. Ocassionally substance leaks through, especially at times of international crises, albeit often with the same pro-war tilt that characterized Brown.

The best mainstream TV is the BBC news broadcast offered by many PBS stations. There you can get a sense of the real world.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Early in the morning of April 9, 1948, commandos of the Irgun (headed by Menachem Begin) and the Stern Gang attacked Deir Yassin, a village with about 750 Palestinian residents. The village lay outside of the area to be assigned by the United Nations to the Jewish State; it had a peaceful reputation. But it was located on high ground in the corridor between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Deir Yassin was slated for occupation under Plan Dalet and the mainstream Jewish defense force, the Haganah, authorized the irregular terrorist forces of the Irgun and the Stern Gang to perform the takeover.

In all over 100 men, women, and children were systematically
murdered. Fifty-three orphaned children were literally dumped along the wall of the Old City, where they were found by Miss Hind Husseini and brought behind the American Colony Hotel to her home, which was to become the Dar El-Tifl El-Arabi orphanage.

Watch documentary on Dier Yassin on


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid
=341600202419569830&pr=goog-sl&hl=en

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]