Writer Larry Gelbart on TV News: “Waking up, I delay for as long as I can pressing the remote. I resist having as my first view of yet another day what has become television’s test pattern for the 21st century: a bunch of somebody’s good guys slaughtering a bunch of somebody else’s good guys.”

SOME IRAQ CRIMES TO BE PROSECUTED
ISRAEL’S PROPAGANDA WAR
WOMEN SEIZE MEXICAN TV STATION

The war in Lebanon has achieved what seemed to be the almost impossible—it knocked the Iraq War out of most the news. That’s not to say we were getting much real coverage, save the incident of the day and daily body count, but the war that the Administration has been trying to get the public to forget has now been all but forgotten even though it has not in TV news parlance, “gone away.”

The beat of civil war goes on, whether we see it or not. 12 young people were killed when a bomb exploded on a makeshift soccer field. 53 dead in one day overall.

AP reported yesterday that an “initial U.S. military probe supports allegations that American Marines deliberately shot 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. The Marine Corps and Navy prosecutors are now reviewing the evidence to determine whether to recommend criminal charges”….

Meanwhile Reuters reports that one marine suspected in the killing sued John Murtha, a congressman, for libel on Wednesday after the lawmaker, a prominent war critic, publicly accused servicemen of murder.
Now on to the other “theater,” a war term I always liked because it accurately recognizes that war is also a show—what’s been called “militainment.”

As of last night:

BEIRUT BOMBED AGAIN, HEZ RETALIATES

CNN reports: Powerful explosions shattered the early morning peace in Beirut on Thursday with a clear signal that Israeli airstrikes on the city’s southern suburbs — a Hezbollah stronghold — had recommenced after a pause of several days…Hezbollah guerrillas fired 26 Katyusha rockets into northern Israel early today.

THE “BATTLE OF PERCEPTIONS”

The New York Times puts the number of rockets at 200, reporting, “At the U.N., France, Britain and the U.S. said they were nearing agreement on an international force that would take over control of the buffer zone.” A Times analysis suggests: “Israel is fighting now to win the battle of perceptions.” (Ie: its all about media image, folks. See below.)

The Washington Post puts the number of Hez rockets at 230.

”BOURJ AL-MULOUK, Lebanon - Hezbollah fired its biggest and deepest volley of rockets into Israel on Wednesday as Israel pursued the guerrillas with 8,000 soldiers on the ground and heavy bombing. With fighting in its fourth week and diplomatic efforts stalled, the region braced for a bitter and long war.

In eastern Lebanon, villagers wept as heavy machinery carried off the bodies of those killed in an overnight raid against a Hezbollah stronghold. Across northern Israel, forests and fields lay scorched from rocket fire that killed a Massachusetts native fleeing on his bicycle after a warning siren went off.

RHETORIC ESCALATES/VENTILATES

While the UN is expected to take up proposals for an international force on the border, it is not known for moving quickly. That’s just fine with Israel which now says it will stop only when that force is in place. Translation: when we want to, and not for a while. Israel is branding all of the countries that are calling for a ceasefire “appeasers.”

And guess who supports Israel on this even though it may mean a longer war–contradicting revised pronouncements by Condi Rice?:

”The United States firmly reiterated its position on Tuesday that there can be no cease-fire in the Middle East until there is a solid plan in place to disarm Hezbollah”

.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14330.htm

A former Israeli Minister speaking on BBC World charges, with no evidence cited, that Iran is behind all of the fighting, and that his country “ would like to stop BUT”…..Israel claims that they have destroyed 70% of Hezbollah’s “infrastructure” but, nevertheless, there were more rockets fired into Israel yesterday than ever….Most Israelis, he says, are living in bomb shelters….

Uri Avney, an Israeli dissident, RARELY ON BBC OR OTHER TV OUTLETS, writes:

THE SIMPLE truth is that up to now, the 22nd day of the war, not one single military target has been reached. The same army that took just six days to rout three big Arab armies in 1967 has not succeeded in overcoming a small “terrorist organization” in a time span that is already longer than the momentous Yom Kippur War. Then, the army succeeded in just 20 days in turning a stunning defeat at the beginning into a resounding military victory at the end….

Have you seen this? A map of locations bombed in Lebanon to date

http://lebanonupdates.blogspot.com/

THE PROPA-MEDIA WAR IS ESCALATING

Whatever the realities on the ground, Israel is also fighting a media war and psy-war with many components aimed at influencing public opinion. And it is working but mostly in the US and Israel where much of the news and most of the TV pundits lean toward Israel.

Most Americans Say Israel’s Bombing of Lebanon Is Justified

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-poll3aug03,0,5268515.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Majority of Israeli public still backs invasion

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14152904/

World public opinion surveys tell a different story indicating far more sympathy for the Lebanese people and criticism of Israel.

How is Israel shaping public opinion? Alongside its military campaign, it is mounting a major propaganda offensive flooding the internet and the press with stories aimed at demonizing and discrediting Hezbollah.

Examples: The Israel Project offers info for reporters:

”We would like to inform you that we have updated our Hezbollah-Israeli conflict online press kit. You can find the materials by going to www.theisraelproject.org/presskit. This information will be updated continuously as we receive new information.

Another Example: Palestine Media Watch, another front group, is circulating selected inflammatory videos from Hezbollah’s TV station:

”While the world debates about responsibility for Lebanese civilian casualties, Hezbollah takes unequivocal pride in its responsibility for causing Israeli civilians casualties. Indeed, Hezbollah celebrates its attacks on civilians as restoring “honor”. Hezbollah TV, Al Manar, continues to broadcast video clips glorifying Hezbollah attacks on Israeli cities. Scenes showing Israeli civilians being rushed to the Hospitals are accompanied by the words: 
”Resist! Explode! Shake! Destroy! Your weapon restores my country’s honor.”

And then, more covertly, Israel is targeting that TV station and hacking into it with its own messages according to the New York Sun:

In the middle of newscasts and programming from Hezbollah’s Al-Manar station, Israeli technicians are hacking the signal and replacing it with a 90-second spot that begins with a gun site superimposed on a crude drawing of Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, looking at the ground.

“The image is punctuated by the sound of three gunshots and framed on the top with the words, “Your day is coming, coming, coming.” On the bottom of the image of Sheik Nasrallah are the words: “The state of Israel.” For the next 90 seconds, the message is clear: Give up. Resistance is futile.

“The special broadcast to Al-Manar’s audience from Israel is the latest salvo in the Jewish state’s propaganda war against the Iranian-backed terror militia after Israel’s military managed to hack into the satellite feed of the station over the weekend.

The article goes into the strategy behind this which includes the targeting or “sanctioning” of the Lebanese people, of civilians, to terrify them. (That’s the word –“terrify”—is that not what terrorists do?)

Psy-ops are increasingly a critical part of how advanced countries fight asymmetrical war. While Israeli commanders insist that the sorties of bombs that they have dropped on Lebanon are aimed at Hezbollah infrastructure, part of the war campaign is aimed at sanctioning the Lebanese people to the point where they understand the terrible price that the country will pay for allowing Hezbollah to work in its midst.

This is one way that Israel’s information warfare in Lebanon is distinguished from America’s efforts in Iraq and the broader Middle East. While the Pentagon and State Department stressed their aim of winning hearts and minds, the Israelis for now are content with terrifying the friends of their enemy.

“Part of this is to instill fear,” the former senior Israel Defense Force official said. “This is mostly aimed at the Hezbollah operative. This is instilling fear.” The official added, however, that the most effective part of the message was that it proved Israel could take over Hezbollah’s primary instrument of propaganda.

http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=37140

SIDE BAR; The Sun, Israel’s media booster ran a big photo on page one of a new chocolate shop. I wonder why until I read the caption:

”Max Brenner Chocolate, a new sweet shop and restaurant near Union Square, is overflowing with treats worthy of Willy Wonka. It is the second popular Israeli chain to open its first American outlet in New York City recently.

THE SUN”S ARGUMENT: LET ISRAEL FIGHT ON
http://www.nysun.com/article/37166

WHY NOT SHOOT THE MISSILES DOWN?

Our military monitor, Joe Dunphy reports:

“One of the issues that stands out in commercial media’s coverage of the Israeli-Hezbullah conflict in Lebanon is one-sided reporting on the missle launches.

“As many people remember, in Gulf Conflict I in 1991, Iraq launched Scud missles against Israel, which did not do much total damage, but the US supplied Patriot missles to help lessen the threat. After the conflict, the Patriot missles were actually found to have inflicted more damage on Israel than the Scuds themselves (NY Times, 1-14-1993).

“The rockets fired by Hezbullah guerillas are on a trajectory lower than the advertised minimum range of Israel’s theatre defense missle, the improved Arrow-2. The Arrow-2 is made by Israeli Aircraft Industries (MLM Division).

“The reason this is important to the US is two fold: 1) since 2003, Boeing was named as the lead US contractor, and there are about 150 US subcontractors involved in supplying parts for the Arrow-2. Suffice it to say there is a very big US angle here, largely unreported in the commercial press. Besides the US business angle, there is an even bigger national security angle: 2) the same tracking system used for the Arrow-2–the Green Pine tracking system–which picks up the incoming missles electronically and targets the missles for destruction–is nothing less than the system used by India along the India-Pakistan border (All of this is in the website Israeli-weapons). Pakistan, via nuclear scientist A.Q. Kahn, has what has been called “the Muslim nuclear bomb,” and of course both India and Pakistan have been close to war in their dispute over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

“The missing question at the mainstream press conferences goes something like this: even if Israel can’t or won’t shoot the Hezbullah rockets down with the Arrow-2, can’t they at least use the Green Pine tracking system to warn civil authorities in Israel where the Hezbullah rockets are projected to land? The reporters may not get an answer, but that shouldn’t keep them from asking.”

STRATFOR FEARS TERRORISM BUT HAS NO PROOF

The private intelligence company Stratfor.com warns:

” We have also taken note of a warden message issued yesterday, August 1st, that imposes a curfew on U.S. Embassy staff in Damascus - a precaution for their safety as emotions run high in Syria. We view this as further affirmation that, with military operations entering a crucial phase, the danger of terrorist activity is now ticking upward. We have no direct intelligence

911: NORAD TAPES IN THE NEWS

”How did the U.S. Air Force respond on 9/11? Could it have shot down United 93, as conspiracy theorists claim? Obtaining 30 hours of never-before-released tapes from the control room of NORAD’s Northeast headquarters, the author reconstructs the chaotic military history of that day—and the Pentagon’s apparent attempt to cover it up. VF.com exclusive: Hear excerpts from the September 11 NORAD tapes. Click PLAY after each transcript to listen

http://www.vanityfair.com/features/general/060801fege01

Pentagon Suspected of Lying About 9/11

Some staff members and commissioners of the September 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon’s initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort to mislead the commission and the public rather than a reflection of the fog of events on that day, according to sources involved in the debate.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080206J.shtml

IN DEBT WE TRUST? READ THIS
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/debt/part4_main/?p1=MEWell_Pos5