What's wrong with this headline?
Airstrikes Hit Beirut; At Least 8 Die in Haifa
(Washington Post)
Did the airstrikes at Beirut cause 8 to die in Haifa? How many died in Beirut? Let's scroll down to see if we find out. Hmm. No mention. But toward the middle of the article we find that at least 92 Lebanese have been killed and 250 wounded, nearly all civilians, since the start of this war. No mention of Israeli totals, but the latest deaths in Haifa add up to a figure under 20.
How about those weapons from Iran? More proof that those evil Iranians should be wiped off the face of the earth. How dare they try to go nuclear. But wait--where did Israel's Patriot missiles come from? Well, that's different, isn't it?
Why is it just fine for Israel to have nuclear weapons--using technology provided by the U.S.--while it's bad, evil, for Iran to have them? I think it's a great idea to insist Iran abolish its nukes, but then I think it's a great idea for all countries to abolish them--including the U.S.
Meanwhile, we've turned Israel into our proxy for war in the Middle East and convinced our populace that the Israelis are innocent victims, not the perpretrators who touched this whole thing off when they bombed innocent families on a Gaza beach.
Update: AP Story
Police said 106 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Lebanon in the four-day Israeli offensive. On the Israeli side, at least 15 have been killed, four civilians and 11 soldiers.
Note that only 4 of those Israeli deaths were civilians. Who is the barbarian here?
posted by Weedgardener @ 9:06 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
When I tried to follow your link to the article it kept taking me to the wrong paper. But I get your point anyway. FOX news reported yesterday that the death tolls were, Israel…24, Lebanon…better than 200 (mostly civilians). So at first glance it appears your point is well taken. But I think these numbers could be due to a couple of things. First, the Hezbollah are known to put their offices and people among civilians and in their own homes. Similar to Al-Qaeda storing weapons in schools. Second, I don’t believe Hamas can aim their rockets. They just shoot them into the air and hope they hit something. A lot of them seem to be landing in the open areas. The Israelis seem to be concentrating on the offices of Hamas and infrastructure of Lebanon. If I’m not mistaken they closed down the airport in Beirut without killing anyone by bombing the runway. I know in my heart that if Hamas could actually aim their rockets they would be hitting apartments, shopping centers and any civilian targets they could.
I agree with you the world would be a much safer place if no one had nuclear weapons, but I’m afraid that ship has sailed. I sincerely wish it could be otherwise. But the thought of terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah or countries like North Korea, or Iran having nuclear weapons is terrifying.
Hi Patches,
Thanks for your comment. I did goof--I said the article was from the New York Times instead of the Washington Post. However, the link is correct--it's just that the headline got changed. Maybe someone at the Post was actually embarrassed by it.
Since my response is rather lengthy--I hope you'll read it all and comment!--I'll just make it a regular blog post.
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