Two Enemies

As Israel's offensive against Hezbollah over the past few weeks drags on, it is a fair question to ask, "who is winning?" Unfortunately, that is a very difficult question to answer. Almost certainly, Israel has made large strives militarily. But it has faced an unexpectedly ferocious, amoral enemy who will stop at nothing to win: the media. The Islamic terrorists have become masters of media manipulation. Combined with a world view that is already extraordinarily prejudice against Israel, you have a situation where the media continues to "disproportionately" (to use a favored word) show one side of the story.

Take Qana. The Israelis take out a building and 54 civilians are killed (46 of them women and children...amazing, where are those menfolk?). This is a tragedy. But it is a bit more complex. It seem there are reports that the building collapsed 8 hours after being hit. Confederate Yankee speculates that maybe, just maybe, there were munitions and rockets "cooking off." (See PowerLine also.)

There is a joke making the rounds (H/T Mere Rhetoric):

A young man was walking the streets of Paris. Suddenly he saw a Rottweiler attacking a young girl. He jumped on the dog, struggled with him and strangled it. Both he and the girl escaped with minor scratches. Immediately, excited journalists surrounded him and said: Tell us your name! All Paris will know of you! The headlines shall be: "Parisian hero saves little girl from savage dog" But the man said: I am not from Paris. The journalists surged with nationalistic pride: OK, so all France will hear of you! The headlines shall be: "French hero saves little girl from savage dog" But the man continued: I am not from France. The journalists changed gears, and tittered with post-national excitement: Even better, we will tell all Europe about you! The headlines shall read: "European hero saves little girl from savage dog". Yet the man insisted: But I am not from Europe. Now confused, the journalists demanded: Where are you from? The man said firmly: I am from Israel. All at once, the journalists seemed to come to a consensus: Indeed, the whole world will hear about you. The headlines will be: "Israeli murders little girl's dog."

Can't argue with that...

UPDATE: Here is a perspective from a Lebonese.