Snapped Shot

Act of war? Or something else entirely?

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Israel has handed yet another photo-op to the enemy. While I think their intentions were honourable—Who, after all, can fault the Israeli government for recovering an Israeli citizen who died in the water, and whose body ended up in Hezbullah's possession. Or for trying once more to save Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev from their captivity?

I certainly won't, but I will point out that, as predictably as the tides in the sea, the Israelis allowed Hezbullah to win yet another battle in the propaganda front, trotting out supposed "relatives" of the dead to receive their bodies on the border—all in the convenient sights of the international photographer corps.



That guy on the left is a Hezbullah "handler" if I've ever seen one, and he sure seems intent on making sure that everyone sees that this woman is in an obvious state of mourning. I'll have the rest of the pictures from this event following the break, as usual.

To my handful of Israeli readers:—You've got to get it through your Government's thick head that situations like this are golden opportunities for Hezbullah to trot out their puppets in front of the cameras for a quick media victory. It is the Israeli government's job to ensure that opportunities like this are denied your enemies! They offer you no quarter, so why should you offer any to them? (Other than drawing-and-quartering, that is...)

Oh, and as a "funny" aside, it's interesting to note that there was zero international outcry over Hezbullah's desecration of a civilian corpse. Or at least, so little of an outcry that I can't even recall this unfortunate event in the least! Once again, the United Nations falls silent when atrocities are perpetrated against the Jews. Continue reading »

Abu Kais is reporting that another bomb has exploded in Beirut, this time onboard a bus outside of an abandoned building. No word on the damage or casualties yet - I'll be following up when I learn more.

Update: According to LBC, 7 were injured, none are reported dead. Still waiting on details.

Update: Sometimes, you have to hit faraway sources to get the news. I still haven't seen word one about this bombing on CNN, nor on the front pages of Google or Yahoo news.

But in the evening a bomb ripped through a public bus in Christian east Beirut wounding at least seven of the people on board, a security source said.

The explosion in the mixed residential and industrial district of Sed al-Baushrieh was the fourth to rock Lebanon since the clashes between the army and the Islamists broke out on May 20.

Footage broadcast by Lebanese television showed that the bus had been burned out by the force of the explosion.

Several parked cars and the facade of a nearby shopping centre were also badly damaged.

AFP's on the story, at least. Still waiting for the photo wires to catch up.

Update: Photos are starting to come in. I'll be posting them shortly.



Update (5-Jun): The latest pictures have been added from the wire. Continue reading »

Our press is still hard at work today, presenting the terrorist point-of-view from the Palestinian human shield "refugee" camps in Lebanon.



I'll be tracking the photos as they come in, so be sure to check back periodically for new updates. Continue reading »

In the midst of the Lebanese army's continuing battle with Fatah al-Islam in the northern city of Tripoli, a second explosion has rocked the capital city of Beirut, this time hitting the predominantly Sunni suburb of Verdun. Is this Bashir al-Assad's continued attempt to destabilize Lebanon in preparation of a return of the Syrian army? It's looking more and more like that's the case every passing day...

The wires are thankfully reporting that nobody has been killed in this bombing, unlike the previous one.



I'll be tracking the pictures of this latest tragedy beyond the fold. Continue reading »

There appear to be reports that a bomb has been set off outside of a shopping mall in a northern suburb of Beirut early on Sunday morning (Lebanon time). It's odd that the blast went off so late—considering how valuable high-casualty targets are to terrorists.



I've gathered all of the pictures available at this time in the extended body of this article, for your reference.

See-Also:

The following bloggers are covering this story in greater detail: From Beirut to the Beltway, Beirut Spring, Captain's Quarters, Hot Air

Continue reading »

Another day, another Hezbullah front "protesting" in Lebanon? I've put in a request for information on this group with our resident expert on Lebanon, so hopefully we'll learn more about them shortly.

Update: Jeha sent the following e-mail, explaining this group in more detail. It doesn't seem to be as bad as the photographers make it look:

Hey Brian,

Those guys are "Offre-Joie", one of the few bright spots in Lebanon, if not the world. Initially, many of its founders were Christians, but they have always been committed to being a very secular/multi-confessional charity. They are truly committed to peace; I think that, when God mentioned the righteous, he had in mind a few people like those. I am partial to them; I volunteered with them for a while, but the Lebanese Red Cross gives more of an adrenaline rush...

Pledge of Allegiance, 1892.

For many in Lebanon, the hand raised is not necessarily a fascist thing, BTW. While it is true that we have more than our share of fascist tendencies, this is far from the case. When a Lebanese raises his hand like that, he has in mind the Roman salute, and it has something we do when we pledge allegiance or make an oath. A grand gesture of commitment, if you will...

In this case, they are making Gebran Tueni's
pledge, which we all made on March 14. The pledge is as follows;

"In the name of God
We, Muslims and Christians,
Pledge that united we shall remain
To the end of time
To better defend our Lebanon"

It was recited by Gebran Tueni, during the famous March 14, 2005, at Martyrs' Square. Gebran Tueni was assassinated by the Syrians by a car bomb, but his legacy lives on in this pledge, and many other good ideas... He is sorely missed at this juncture of our history... Note that all the more than 1.2 million of us who were present that day repeated it, and we all had our hands extended like that. The March 14 demo was really huge; Syria's Quislings were still in charge then, and tried to make it hard for people to go, but still, out of a population of less than 4 Million, more than half the population tried to show up on that day, and traffic jams extended to 30 km on all roads leading downtown...

You make a great point, however, in mentioning that this could be exploited by a few sinister people. And it looks like our politcal leaders either did not take the pledge, or are choosing to ignore it. But I fear the real danger comes from the "realists" in the United States, who appear hell-bent on selling us to the Syrians (again); they forget that Bin Laden, when he planned 9/11, had in mind the Marines' debacle in Beirut, in the 1980's. This is of his own admission, actually, but too many US politicians have the attention span on Homer Simpson. In any case, I hope no war will be visited on us, but we can only react to outside events, with little control of our own...

Many thanks for straightening me out there, Jeha! Continue reading »

Okay, so for weeks we've heard that Hezbullah will be out in the streets en force today, to protest the "pro-Western" Lebanese government and otherwise make life miserable for those opposed to Syria's puppet reign.

Now that photographs are pouring in, we get to see shots like this:


Compare this to previous Hezbullah rallies, and see if you can make out the difference:


As has been noted fairly extensively, Hezbullah is very adept at manipulating the media. The fact that these protesters are so blatantly identifying themselves as "Lebanese"--rather than identifying themselves with the usual Hezbullah, Iranian, and Syrian flags--it is apparent to me that Hezbullah has sent out a little internal memo to its rally organizers, instructing them that it would be most prudent to wrap themselves in the Lebanese flag, to couch the argument in terms that they're somehow "reclaiming" the Lebanese government for themselves.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Hezbullah remains a group whose strings are pulled by the Opthamologist and Dr. Spongebob Nuclearpants. To consider them even remotely pro-Lebanese is farsical at best.

One other possibility here, just as an aside: According to the pro-Lebanese website From Beirut to the Beltway, the March 14th (thanks, Austin) group is planning massive demonstrations in Beirut today as well, to counter the Hezbullah invaders (and really, what better word is there for a group of the population that intends to turn control of one's nation over to a neighboring nation?). It's possible, but not likely, that we're actually looking at a group of March 14th'ers here. The reason I would suggest that this is Hezbullah-in-drag, though, is that most of the signs in the crowd are in Arabic, not generally the language employed by March 14.

As always, events in Lebanon are complex. Hopefully, my Lebanese compatriots can continue to update us with their side of what's going on over there. Stay safe, y'all!

For extensive Lebanon coverage: Jeha's Nail, From Beirut to the Beltway, Free Cedar.

I know I've been silent on the latest AP scandal--and I have a good reason for being so! Everyone else has covered it extensively already, and I don't really have anything insightful to add to their brilliant observations! What can I say? Kurt at Flopping Aces has done a spectacular job of tossing some egg at the AP's face -- or rather, pointing out the egg that the AP put there itself!

To make up for it, here's a "Flatima" wannabe sighting, following the break, from today's Hezbullah rally. Enjoy! (If you read Arabic, I'd be delighted to hear a translation for the sign behind our dear Flatima impersonator!)

UPDATE: I'm not the only person who noticed the conspicuous absence of that disgusting yellow flag. Howdy, GatewayPundit! It's good to be in esteemed company such as yours!

Update: Extensive coverage from Abu Kais at From Beirut to the Beltway, cross-posted at Michael Totten's website. Continue reading »

It seems that, far from being media neophytes, Hezbullah contracted with a marketing firm to the tune of $140,000 to come up with their "DIVINE VICTORY" propaganda push marketing campaign.

Anyone know which advertising agency was responsible for this? It'd be interesting to find out, at the very least. If it was an international firm, my bet's on it based out of Londonistan. We can almost certainly rule out a US-based firm, as Hezbullah is still considered a terrorist organization.

Of course, there's nothing new about marketing agencies taking sides in international conflict. The United States Army just updated its ads with the help of such an advertising firm. What's intriguing is that this is possibly one of the first times that an un-affiliated insurgent group went through the trouble of brining a firm in. (I suspect the PLO did this as well, but don't have anything concrete to back that up other than hints dropped in reports of Arafat's billions...)

Update: Found out that this isn't exactly new news. According to Adam Ash, the agency responsible for this mess is Idea Creation, a Beirut-based firm.

Curses, foiled again! Continue reading »

Still on my quest to educate the nutroots. My weekends are usually full of other activities, so today will probably be another slow one for me. Sorry in advance!



Right, because it's important to make sure that everyone is on friendly terms with Bashar Assad. Can any of you Nutsrooters point to a single city in the United States that has large portraits of George W. Bush on billboards all over town?

I didn't think so.

Syria? Dictatorship.

The United States? Still not a dictatorship.

Snapped Shot: 3. The Nutroots: 0.

This post is no longer being updated. Please refer to The latest on the Funny Money Scandal for, well, the latest updates.

Now that Hezbullah has suddenly morphed into a philanthropic organization, we learn from this photograph that they are distributing approximately US$12,000 to the needy in areas destroyed by Israel. Of course, what is our intrepid photographer obviously not curious enough to know? Well, that Hezbullah has already been dinged for counterfeiting U.S. currency:

One of the most prominent and influential members of the Hizballah terrorist organization, along with two of his companies, was designated by the Treasury Department today under Executive Order 13224. Assad Ahmad Barakat has close ties with Hizballah leadership and has worked closely with numerous Islamic extremists and suspected Hizballah associates in South America's tri-border area (TBA), made up of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. . . .

Barakat has also been involved in a counterfeiting ring that distributes fake U.S. dollars and generates cash to fund Hizballah operations. As of early 2001, Barakat was one of two individuals reportedly in charge of distribution and sale of the counterfeit currency in the TBA.

Once again, it's left to the Blogosphere to ask the questions the media isn't interested in asking.

UPDATE 11:59 EST: I'm collecting all of the images connected with this story in this article. Click the Read More link below for a fun look at the world's newest charity.

UPDATE 13:30 EST: The hilarity continues. Apparently, we've been blessed to have the Hezbullah Engineering Company on-site, ready to fix all of those Zionist craters. Praise be to Allah, the Zionists will surely not stand up to the dreaded Hezbullah engineer! (As usual, check out the extended article for pictures)

UPDATE 19-AUG-2006 10:56 EST: Added wire photos from 19-Aug.

UPDATE 11:41 EST: It would appear that MechEng from Newsbusters has caught something in one of the photographs posted: The $100 bills shown here ought to have a security thread running roughly near the U.S. Treasury seal on the obverse (front) of the bill, yet in a silhouetted photograph of one of the bills being counted, we do not see this thread. While we can't be 100% certain, it is definitely increasingly likely that these bills are fake, and as a result, the press is possibly aiding and abetting the distribution of counterfeit currency.

UPDATE 21:10 EST: Wow! I've gotten an unprecedented reaction to this story! Thanks to everyone who's written! I want to take a moment to highlight some of the most poignant observations made by you, here:

Jim Hunter 2006-08-19 19:31

In photographs #17 and #18 the seal is in a different position relative to the numbers 1 0 0.

Wessoman 2006-08-19 15:10

I don't know about you guys, but I'm holding a new hundred right now. The US treasury has never made the new design 100 dollar bill without the strip. Considering the light passing through the bill in that photo, you would readily be able to see the strip. Those bills are about as real as Monopoly money and those victims (real or not) are either being duped or going along with one.

Wino 2006-08-19 16:47

Can I ask and answer some questions?
Who deals in American currency in Lebanon? Ans: No one
What is anyone going to buy with the money? Ans: Nothing
Why are they handing out the bills? Ans: Fauxto Op
Why is the press so willingly following along with this? Ans: They are cheering for the Hesbians.

tompain 2006-08-19 18:29

The photo by Hussein Malla (caption: "A Lebanese resident of a Beirut suburb ...") that might also indicate a missing security thread seems to me to reveal a more obvious flaw. The image of the federal reserve seal showing through the bill seems offset to the right. The outer circle of the seal should intersect with the branches of the tree in the rightmost part of the image of Independence Hall. On this bill, they barely touch.

DocMartyn 2006-08-19 18:47

A personal opinion. I moved to the USA from the UK two years ago. As I do not trust banks to move money from one country to another, I took just unser $7,000 dollars in cash.
I ordered my US dollars in advance and took them to America with me. I handled a loot of $100 dollor bills. That is my level of expertese. O.K. my view. These are too flat. The paper in fresh US $100 bills is a little more "Fluffy", it is not hard and stiff like these people are holding. It has texture, it is not flat and smooth. It is more like cloth than paper. Secondly, it is a bit more static. Bills tend to stick togeather. It makes it hard to count as is easy to count two bills togeather. The bundle in picture 11 looks very wrong. The whole stack of bills looks flat, whereas I found that the bills form a concave shape, like there is surface tension, the middle of the pile is more attracted to its partners than the edges are, and so the edges are puffed up. Again, these bills are flat, almost like a block of wood with a bill stook on top.

My deepest regards and thanks to all of you who've contributed to this story!

UPDATE 20-AUG-2006 19:05 EST: Ali Bubba has pointed out that Bill Gertz wrote an article about the North Korean "superbill" in 2004. While it's possible that Hezbullah obtained notes from North Korea, it should be noted that Iran already has all of the equipment necessary to make their own.

Thomas and Marcie write via e-mail that, not only should a portion of the security strip be visible towards the top of the bill in Photo #9, but that in Photo #15, the green color is brighter than a bill would normally be at that angle. Furthermore, on the backs of the bills, the semi-circle appears too green.

UPDATE 21-AUG-2006 09:12 EST: It would appear that the World's Newest Charity has started in its quest to conquer the Salvation Army.

UPDATE 13:27 EST: Blogger TomPain has written the most astute synopsis of this story that I've found so far, illustrated with a $100 note from his personal treasure. Many thanks for the very detailed analysis, Tom!

Related stories: Allahpundit, LGF, Disturbingly Yellow, FreeAlabamastan, Euphoric Reality, Backspin, Say Anything, Edgar's Musings, The Western Seminarian, DogfightatBankstown

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As I mentioned in the morning edition, the wires are teeming with obligatory rubble shots today. For the full record, I'll post all of the shots here (click the title to see all of them).

A Lebanese man inspects the damage of a destroyed apartment building, following an Israeli airstrike early Friday, in the Hezbollah stronghold suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 11, 2006. Powerful explosions resounded across Beirut early Friday, and local media reports said Israeli jets were pounding Hezbollah strongholds in the southern Dahieh suburb. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Continue reading »

I suppose I should commend the press for this one.

The top of a historical lighthouse is damaged after missiles from Israeli helicopter gunships blasted it, in an apparent attempt to knock out a broadcast antenna for Lebanese state television in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday Aug. 10, 2006. Israeli ground forces took control of a key southern Lebanese town and claimed strategic hilltop positions Thursday in a push to widen its hold on border areas before a possible drive deeper into the country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The way this war's been waged in the media so far, you would've thought that this would be a "historic, Holy lighthouse." I'm glad the author was able to restrain himself a bit, although it would definitely have been better had he use language that was less emotionally charged. I mean, c'mon... "Blasted it?" And it's fairly easy to find out whether it was an "apparent" attempt to knock out a Hezbullah antenna, or whether it did so in reality, isn't it?