Body Parts

The Barbarians Are At The Gate

DEBKAfile reports that Iranians have taken over, from the Syrians, resupplying Hezbollah across Syria. This is the reason that Israel has been bombing the crossing points from Syria into Lebanon. Is it also the reason that Israel resumed bombing before its 48-hour bombing pause was supposed to end?

Did Hezbollah Stage the Qana "Massacre"?

Questions are raised (see reference blog articles below) about:

• the discrepancy between the timing of the bombing (1 AM) and the collapse of the building (8 AM);
• the distance of the Israeli bomb from the building itself, as evidenced by the crater;
• the roof of the building being intact, unexpected if bombed from the air;
• the incredibility of the alleged fact that the victims were killed in their sleep by the collapsing building (the bombing wouldn't wake them?);
• the incredibility that the victims were sleeping at 8 AM when building actually collapsed;
• journalists being called "shortly after dawn" to come to the site--possibley before the building collapsed;
• the lack of visible trauma (no smashed and crushed bodies, no blood from bleeding, etc.) from the falling wall blocks and building materials;
• some bodies without debris and dust on them from the purported collapse;
• rigor mortis appearing to be too advanced for the alleged time of the photographs;
• there being no men, not even old men, among the victims;
• fifteen of the children victims being handicapped or mentally disabled, far more than would be expected from two families;
• the failure of any villagers to attempt to dig victims out of the rubble for nearly 10 hours, when journalists arrived, if the collapse took place at 1 AM as Hezbollah alleged;
• the lack of any witnesses reporting any cries of suffering or for help by the victims, as if they all died--improbably--instantly;
• the practice of Hezbollah of storing munitions in homes and public buildings;
• the staged recovery that took place three hours after the building collapse;
• the inflation of the number of bodies from 28 (Red Cross) to 56 or 60 (Hezbollah and Lebanese spokesmen);
• the possibility that the bodies were transported to the site from a Tyre morgue;
• the appearance of a "rescuer" who had also appeared in the 1996 alleged massacre in the same village (a previous Israeli incursion);
• the failure of the "journalists" at the scene to obtain names and contact information of "witnesses" of the event;
• a Lebanese photographer (Adan Hajj), who recently submitted a fraudulent photoshopped photo of the Beirut skyline after an Israeli air attack, which was sent over the wires by Reuters and now (August 6) admitted to be a fraud and withdrawn by Reuters, was present last week at Qana and took the famous--now known to be staged--photo of a man holding up a dead baby.
• the refusal of local Hezbollah leaders to permit journalists to inspect closely the collapsed building or, apparently, the bodies.

This would not be the first hoax perpetuated against Israel by Israel's Muslim terrorist enemies, and abetted by Western mainstream media who are unable to distinguish propaganda from journalism.

See the following blogs and reference articles:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283816,00.html

http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2006/07/milking-it.html

http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2006/07/who-is-this-man.html

http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/was-the-qana-massacre-staged-by-hezbollah

http://vitalperspective.typepad.com/vital_perspective_clarity/2006/07/qana_served_as_.html

http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/188571.php

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/012482.php

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/012477.php

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/184143.php

http://volokh.com/posts/1154527526.shtml

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/012522.php

http://proteinwisdom.com/index.php?/weblog/entry/20764/

EU Referendum has obtained more of the photos taken at Qana and shows how the photo "journalism" of the recovery of bodies was stage managed. Some photos were digitally altered, either by the photo journalists or by news services to disguise items imaged in them.

EU Referendum provides a multi-part analytical review of the staging of photographs at Qana and the efforts of the wire services to cover up what they did (August 14, 2006).

A Labanese photographer with knowledge of his peers behavior states that it is not uncommon for wire photographers to stage shoots (August 12). Another photographer testifies to the practice of removing bodies from graves and posing them for photographers with staging photos at another Lebanese site (August 13).

Who was the "Green Helmeted Man"? One of the theatrical performers. (Thanks to Power Line.) American Thinker identifies him as a Hezbollah propaganda operative. Here is discussion in Volokh Conspiracy of a German television video analysis of his staging of recovery of corpses photographed by Hajj. Green Helmeted Man further identified here and, finally, here.

One analyst has done a revealing chronology of the lies about the changing body count.

Strata-Sphere has identified by name a mortician from Tyre with a refrigerated truck on the scene; the same truck had a load-full of children's corpses to be buried the day before the Qana event. (Thanks to Media Lies.)

American Thinker provides some basis to the suspicion that the disabled and mentally impaired children "found" in the rubble had been planted there.

The American Thinker carries a long, frequently updated article, reviewing the career of fraudulent photography by the Reuter's photographer, Adan Hajj--this is a must read article.

On the failure of news reporting to put the Qana story into context, see HonestReporting.

Michelle Malkin smells journalistic fraud, too.

Los Angeles Times entertainment columnist, Tim Rutten, thinks the possibility of Qana fraud should be investigated at the same time as the (later) fraud of Hajj's fraudulent photographs of the Beirut skyline.

Canadian columnist, David Warren, attacks the liberal media for not returning to the Qana story for further investigation when questions, if not evidence, are accumulating that the supposed massacre might have been a fraud.

Robert Spencer summarizes some of the issues.

Meanwhile, Haaretz continues to report the Qana story more or less in line with Hezbollah. It cites survivors of the air strike (without indicating whether the reporter spoke directly with the survivors or is merely reported second-hand information) as disputing the notion that the building collapsed hours after the 1 AM air strike. Haaretz does not (in this story at least) discuss the IAF video that shows the building standing.

Haaretz reports that the IDF, in its investigation, finds (Monday, Jerusalem time) no report of Hezbollah rockets being fired from the building or its immediate vicinity about the time of the air strike near the building; nor does the IDF have a report of Hezbollah fighters near the building.

The Washington Post defends its use of photographs and reporting of Qana, and cites its photographer there that no photos were set up.

IAF completes its investigation of the Qana incident (Wednesday).

Jerusalem Post reviews the controversy raised by bloggers (August 2, Jerusalem time).

PipeLine News summaries the major questions that point to fraud. (August 3. Thanks to The American Thinker.)

National Post (Canada) editorially supports the theory that the massacre, at least in part, was staged (Corpses were apparently brought in to the site to inflate the death count, a ruse done, for instance, by the Palestinians in one encounter with the Israelis). (Thanks to Power Line.)

UPDATE ON RESEARCH INTO QANA DISASTER. Thanks to the controversy raised by bloggers, journalists and other investigators are now doing genuine research, interviewing people in Qana, about the disaster.

CNN learns about the nature of the building that collapsed.

Human Rights Watch confirms the total number of victims (if they were) of the building collapse at 28 by looking at a register (What register? Why was there a register of people in the building?). It claims that 22 persons left the building before it collapsed. (Why did, apparently, all the men leave? Why did they not return to dig through the rubble to rescue victims immediately after the collapse? Did they know the "victims" were alread dead?)

The Jerusalem Post reports that the IDF, prompted by bloggers' analysis of the Qana disaster, is now conducting further investigation into the hypothesis that some or all of the disaster was staged by Hezbollah. (Thanks to Power Line.)

The United Nation's Human Rights Council is to take up the issue of "Israel's gross human rights violations" including the "Qana massacre". We should not hold our breaths in expectation that the Council, dominated by nondemocratic regimes with outstanding records of human rights abuses, will objectively investigate what happened at Qana.

David Kopel reports that journalists brought to the scene by Hezbollah were prevented by Hezbollah from inspecting the collapsed building. Were they also prohibited from examining the purported victims--the women and children--brought out of the building? Would they have been prohibited from examining the building and/or the purported victims, if Hezbollah had nothing to hide, if examining it would have supported Hezbollah's case?

Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit, also calls professional journalism onto the carpet, "Don't Trust If They Won't Verify."

Fox Cable News airs clip of "Green Helmet" man staging a photo shot. (Thanks to Little Green Footballs.)

Note. I have noticed that this article is being read after being picked up on Google searches by persons who are not, presumably, regular readers of my blog. You should be aware that the article is only a compilation of news and opinion from the blog, op-ed, internet and print news sources that I personally survey, about 80 sources in English. It is not comprehensive (August 12, 2006).

Updated: July 31, August 1, August 2, August 3,  August 4, August 5, August 6, August 8, August 10, August 11, August 12, August 13, August 14, August 15.

Mel Gibson's Flaw

Blogdom was vibrating with buzz yesterday over Mel Gibson's arrest for drunken driving. (See Los Angeles Times, Sunday, July 30, 2006, A1, for background.) Gibson reportedly excoriated the arresting officers with profane adjectives ("fucking"), threats, and anti-Jew taunts. Whatever the reality of his performance, he has apologized profusely, while recognizing his alcoholism, his addictions, and this profound flaw in his personality.

Some bloggers see the episode as proof that Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" was intentionally anti-Semitic; I don't agree, but this is not an debate I want to rehash. Some bloggers imply that Gibson must be a hypocrite, on the notion that his well-known support to police and conservative causes is a deliberate cover up of his true religious intolerance; this is nonsense. His charity no more covers up anti-Semitism than anyone's daytime good behavior covers up the nightmares that afflict their sleep. Other bloggers appear to delight in Gibson's misconduct, in the mode of scandal sheets, whereby the high and mighty deserve whatever falls they take. I don't share their delight, not even if it would give me the opportunity to use German or French terms, or words in other languages I don't speak, to express myself.

Gibson is a greatly talented and creative movie actor and director. That he is flawed by addiction makes him human, not a monster. As for the explicatives drunkenly hurled against Jews, this behavior only manifests the lies with which he was raised as a child and which he has tried to repress and erase as an adult. No one gets to choose their parents or how they were raised, yet all of us must struggle to overcome the shortcomings or corruptions of our youth our parents caused. Gibson is no different in that regard. He is different only in that his enormous talent has put him in the public arena where his struggle is scrutinized by the media. He does not have the privacy that most of us have in which to wrestle our demons.

A Better Map of Beirut Damage by IAF

Here is a better map, showing the very limited number of blocks attacked by the IAF in its Beirut campaign.

Waiting for the Other Boot to Fall

A number of conservative bloggers, such as Donald Sensing, are arguing that Hezbollah is winning, because Israel has only lashed out. Israel has not undertaken a larger strategy that would involve enough ground troops to occupy the border region and then move north to Bekaa valley and other redoubts to blast Hezbollah out. Rather, the Israeli cabinet seems to be  pulling its punches, refusing to authorize a larger ground war. This analysis is supported by the Jersualem Post's brilliant observer, Caroline Glick.

I think that Sensing's and Glick's analyses are credible; but I think they fail to take into account the logic of events. Hezbollah warned a few days ago that it will take its rocket attacks south of Haifa. With faijr-5 rocket attacks on Afula today, it has done that. It will only a a matter of days before Tel Aviv is attacked. Jerusalem is not safe from attack, even if it is a holy city for Muslims also; for the longest range Iranian guided missile possessed by Hezbollah (and manned by Iranians) is capable of being aimed accurately enough to hit western Jerusalem. Even if an errant missile would hit a Muslim neighborhood or holy site, Hezbollah could simply argue it was an Iraeli attack and would be believed in the Muslim world.

When Hezbollah scores hits on Tel Aviv and/or Jerusalem, Israel will have no recourse but to send a large ground army into north Lebanon to eradicate Hezbollah and its missile launch sites. Having suffered an escalation of the war on its major cities, taking the first blow in a new round of escalation, Israel would, I believe, continue to have the explicit support of the US and the tacit support from Jordan/Saudi Arabia/Egypt and the Gulf states to move into Lebanon. Iran's Arab enemies have much to benefit from the destruction of Hezbollah and the weakening of the regional hegemonic ambitions of Iran.

I don't think that Israel is consciously trying to put itself in a reactive position, in order to maintain its international support; but no matter, the result will be the same. What has happened so far amounts, in old language, to a "police action". An attack on Tel Aviv would turn this conflict into real war.

Cooling Down At Last

This evening the temperature dropped below 90df at nine oclock for the first time in days. We felt an onshore breeze, with filaments of coolness to tease us. How cool was it? Take a look ...

A NATO Force and Helping Israel

If a NATO multinational force is sent into south Lebanon to keep out Hezbollah and demilitarize the region, the US should be part of it. We are Israel's ally. Israel's war is our fight. We should have a division of troops along the Lebanon-Israel border as part of any NATO contingent. We should not run away from our responsibility to halt terrorist assaults on free nations anywhere.

Questions About the UN Observation Post

In the episode of the destruction of the UN observation post, apparently by Israel, the UN has released information that the UN observers at the post repeatedly informed the IDF that their artillery (and/or tank?) shelling was coming close to the post and requested them to stop.

Why was the IDF shelling near the Post? Presumably, the IDF was not trying to waste munitions churning up dirt. Hezbollah must have been close to the Post; was it? If it was, then the IDF was firing at Hezbollah. If Hezbollah forces were close to the post, and expected the IDF not to fire on them because of their proximity to the post, then Hezbollah was using the observers at the post as human shields--their usual tactic.

It has already been established that Hezbollah and the UN observers were aligned, perhaps collaborating. As a matter of general reasoning, how could the UN observers have failed over six years to notice what Hezbollah was doing [importing munitions, building concrete bunkers, etc.], which they did not report? If they knew and did not report, then they were collaborating. How much collaboration did the UN do for Hezbollah? Did they relay military information to Hezbollah?

Did the post request Hezbollah forces to leave the area? If the observers knew that Hezbollah was close to the post, and did not leave, then the observers were complicitly accepting their role as shields--this would be another form of collaboration with Hezbollah.

UPDATE 1. According to the Jerusalem Post, the UN observers knew Hezbollah was operating near the post and knew that Hezbollah was using the post observers as shields. In this case, the UN observers certainly should have vacated the post, rather than complicitly collaborate with Hezbollah.

UPDATE 2. The UN has belatedly ordered its observation posts abandoned.

Lebanon: Humanitarian Crisis, III

Courtesy of Atlas Shrugged and Israpundit.

Check out the map of Beirut, marked with the areas bombed. 95% of the city is untouched.

The Possibility Hezbollah Hit UN Observation Post

Belmont Club discusses in detail the position of UNIFIL in the Israeli-Hezbollah combat, examining UNIFIL reports since the combat started. Hezbollah has already hit UNIFIL once; Israel has striven to protect UNIFIL. Well worth reading.