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August 07, 2006

THAT Would Be a BIG 'Whoops'!

Lebanon's PM: 'Horrific massacre' as 40 killed in airstrike
Lebanon's prime minister said Monday an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Houla left 40 people dead.

"An hour ago, there was a horrific massacre in the village of Houla in which more than 40 martyrs were victims of deliberate bombing," Fouad Siniora told Arab foreign ministers in Beirut.

...Siniora choked back tears, wiping his eyes as he spoke, The Associated Press reported. The ministers applauded.

"If these horrific actions are not state terrorism then what is state terrorism?" AP quoted Siniora as saying.


"How AWFUL! Dreadful! Horrible Israelis!" you say, n'est pas?
But ~ like the $19.95, 1-800-number commercials on TV ~
WAIT !! There's MORE!

A yellow "News Alert" banner is flying above that incendiary headline with the rest...

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Siniora now says one dead in Houla, not 40 as he said earlier.

Al-Reuters photo to follow, I'm sure. Just as soon as they put the mouse down.
UPDATE: Screenshot below (and more on the meeting where he announced the Israeli non-massacre.) I wonder if there was anyone around to applaud when it turns out the casualties were significantly less?

UPDATE Part Deux: MSNBC just got this up a bit ago...

Lebanon retracts claim that Israel killed 40
Prime minister now says one person died in airstrike on village

...while noting in additional news:
U.N.: Hezbollah had fired rockets from nearby
U.N. peacekeepers at a post near Houla reported Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel twice Monday from positions near the U.N. base.

(Damn. I thought those guys were never anywhere near a U.N. outpost ~ all Zionist lies and such!)
MSNBC is also being very careful to distance themselves from any al-Reuters taint...
MSNBC.com was not among the news publications that ran the photo when it was first offered.

(They're using 'RETRACT' a lot today.)


MORE:
These are the ministers (Morroco, Kuwait, UAE, etc.) who applauded his...premature... massacre announcement. Nothing like working a sympathetic audience with theatrics when you've got an agenda to push.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora choked back tears as he told a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Beirut that 40 people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on the southern border village of Houla, but he later said only one person was killed.

Saniora got strong backing from the foreign ministers, who warned the U.N. Security Council against adopting resolutions that don't serve Lebanon's interests. They decided to send a high-level delegation to New York to press Lebanon's case.

You can always straighten out the details later.

Posted by tree hugging sister at August 7, 2006 11:51 AM

Comments

"Lebanon's PM revises death toll from 40 to 1" is the new headline.

But one has to wonder.....just how quickly would CNN have made the correction if al-Reuters hadn't inserted their organ of reproduction into a rotating meat grinder?

Posted by: The_Real_JeffS at August 7, 2006 11:54 AM

Guess they couldn't find enough bodies to pose. The other ones must be quite ripe by now.

Posted by: Cindermutha at August 7, 2006 11:54 AM

I was thinking the same sorry thing, CM. Like "Don't we have those kids on ice somewhere?!" And wouldn't put it past them.

And you're soooo on target there, Jeff. Even though the Reuters thing isn't newsworthy (judging by the stories NOT flooding the airwaves and MSM .coms), maybe CNN figured somewhere someone mighta heard about it, so they might oughta CTA and get the correction up.

And clever me getting the screen shot. ::backpattingexcessively::

Posted by: tree hugging sister at August 7, 2006 11:59 AM

I'm surprised they didn't just Photoshop a mess of bodies around, it's not like they don't have a lot of (the same) pictures (of the same dead kid), or of burning buildings enhanced with more photo-smoke-action. Reuters finally has pulled that guy's images.

Posted by: DirtCrashr at August 7, 2006 12:38 PM

Damage already done, though DC. Just like this piteous acting job for the benefit of his audience. Like I read somewhere yesterday, the first thing/image/impression is what gets to the Figi Islands. Somehow the corrections never do.

I'm sure there're Muslims getting their Israeli flags all ready to burn in riots because they've just killed 40 people and trapped 60.

Never mind that they didn't.

Posted by: tree hugging sister at August 7, 2006 12:42 PM

I'd like to think there were 40 bodies, all Hezbolla. Maybe there were and that's why they retracked the figures since killing that many of the rat bastards would be like bad for morale.

Posted by: major dad at August 7, 2006 02:06 PM

.....just how quickly would CNN have made the correction if al-Reuters hadn't inserted their organ of reproduction into a rotating meat grinder?

I didn't know that anyone made miniature meat grinders... Gives a new spin to "grind slow, and exceeding fine"...

Posted by: Nightfly at August 7, 2006 06:46 PM

Per CNN, Reuters admits that two of the images by photographer Adnan Hajj had been manipulated. As a precautionary measure, Reuters withdrew his photographs from its database.

One down....how many more 'alterations' are left to uncover?

Posted by: Prussian Tiger at August 7, 2006 11:48 PM

Israel turned me into a newt!

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at August 8, 2006 10:10 AM