Publius' Forum

-By Warner Todd Huston

After reading something like a recent story in the L.A. Times, one is struck with how little "news" or analysis is often included in the "news" paper, and how much evocative, emotive, fluff has replaced any attempt at informing the reader of what is really going on.

In the story titled, "His Heart Was Full for Lebanon and U.S.", writer ... or maybe I should say "story teller" as that seems more descriptive... Sam Quinones, gave us what amounts to a one sided, propagandistic account of the life of a man killed in Lebanon who so "loved" both the USA and Lebanon.

The subtitle pretty much tells the reader the direction of the story.

Mohamed Hammoudi lived in Los Angeles for years. He was enjoying his retirement in his homeland when an Israeli bomb struck.

There you have it. An almost American murdered by an evil Jew bomb. A kindly fellow who just loved everyone and was needlessly killed by those militaristic Jews.

Quinones goes on quite a lot about the life of Mohamed Hammoudi who we are told "admired a lot about the United States". Of course, we aren't treated to any examples of this "admiration" just the writer's say so that it was true. Though, we do find later in the story that he enjoyed reading the works of "Bob Woodward ... and Noam Chomsky", so we can guess how much "love" he might have had from his appreciation of the works of authors commonly known to savage the US, its culture and its politics.

Certainly, it is sad when people who were not necessarily "guilty" are harmed in war. It truly is sad that kindly Mr. Hammoudi lost his life. But, there are reasons things happen and this story leaves the feeling that the Jews just started casually throwing American made bombs about the countryside indiscriminately as there is no real effort to set the attacks in context in any way.
Consequently, we are treated to the nice life of Mr. Hammoudi for many paragraphs coupled with digs at the USA and Israel all along the way.

Here are all the swipes at the US and Israel in the story...

-He was enjoying his retirement in his homeland when an Israeli bomb struck.

-But two weeks ago, as Hammoudi sat down to a meal in the hilltop house in southern Lebanon that he had inherited after his father died, an Israeli bomb struck, destroying the stone structure and killing Hammoudi.

-"I've been crying from the first bomb landing, not only for my brother — for my whole family, for my whole country," said Hammoudi's sister Mariam

-When he died, "the United States lost more than what Lebanon lost," said Hassan Mansour, a lifelong friend who discovered Hammoudi's body.

-He was among a steady flow of Lebanese returning to vacation or live, repopulating a region largely deserted during Israel's occupation of Lebanon, which ended in 2000.

-Then both their houses were hit by Israeli bombs. No one saw Hammoudi after that.

-"After 30 years in the U.S., they sent you 'smart' bombs to get you killed," cried his sister Haniah.

-Most of Mansour's extended family has lost everything. Almost every house in Ainata is damaged, and many people are homeless.

-Perhaps the worst damage, Mansour said, has been to the esteem in which the Lebanese people held the United States.

-"People love Americans. Everybody wants to go to the United States," he said. "There is no need for this. You can easily have all these people on your side. I don't know why we have to go and make them our enemies."

-Hammoudi's family said Israel's attacks would only bolster Hezbollah, because the group — and not the U.S. or Israel — is most likely to care for those displaced by the bombing of villages such as Ainata.

-"Israel created Hezbollah," said Hammoudi's sister Mariam. "I am personally against Hezbollah. But when you have an enemy, you can create a devil to defeat the enemy."

-Meanwhile, bombs have silenced the voice of Mohamed Hammoudi.

Seems like the entire article reproduced there, doesn't it?

Well, it almost IS the whole article!

The lie that Israel "created Hezbullah" was especially egregious.

Now I will add here all the paragraphs that might be considered explicatory for the USA or Israel, sections that contain any hint of why the Israelis are doing the bombing in the first place and any support of that action.

-On July 12, Hezbollah fighters crossed into northern Israel and abducted two soldiers, sparking an Israeli bombing campaign in southern Lebanon.

Yep. That was it. One paragraph. 21 words in a sea of condemnation and vitriol.

Nope, what we have here is just another example of the L.A. Times supporting terrorists, making them seem softer, put-upon, and abused by those rotten Americans and Jews. Propaganda for terrorists, plain and simple.

And all that emanating from an American newspaper.

Thanks, L.A.Times, for aiding victory .... for Hezbullah.