This post is no longer being updated.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.
The Security Thread A clear, inscribed polyester thread has been incorporated into the paper of genuine currency. The thread is embedded in the paper and runs vertically through the clear field to the left of the Federal Reserve Seal.
Tags: eric gaillard hussein malla kevin frayer kevork djansezian AP REUTERS #Israel/Lebanon War 2006
If these bills are pre-security enhancement era bills then why are they new looking? And where (as if I didn't know) would they get them?
Are not those $100 bills and by my calculation that poor man, who had his house destroyed over a whole month period, must have received the whole $12,000 allotment. The dollars, like the pictures, could not be of questionable status, could they?