Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Israel's targets
BBC World is generally significantly more balanced in its coverage than American networks, but it's far from perfect. On tonight's show, the reporter summed up events with this (quoting from memory, but close enough): "The death toll in Lebanon now stands at 300 after eight days of Israeli bombing of Hezbollah targets."
I'm sure I don't need to remind readers that those "Hezbollah" targets have included roads, bridges, airports, gas stations, apartment buildings, factories, Lebanese army barracks, vans of fleeing civilians, and more. And we know, based on the "gunsight porn" shots that are shown on TV of Israeli bombs hitting their targets, that, in their vast majority, the Israeli strikes have been intentional strikes, not missiles or bombs gone awry. And, in the face of all this, BBC (and certainly they're not alone in this) dares to suggest that Israel has spent eight days bombing "Hezbollah targets." The Israeli government P.R. department couldn't have said it better.
Update: Just some of today's "Hezbollah" targets:
In Srifa, a neighborhood was wiped out -- 15 houses flattened, 21 people killed, 30 wounded -- in an Israeli airstrike. The town’s mayor, Afif Najdi, called it a massacre.
Warplanes bombed a convoy escaping the town, killing several people and wounding many others.
