Ugh. This is exactly the type of "propaganda victory" I said the Israeli government needed to avoid a few days ago:
Lebanese Hassan Akil, 45, who the Israeli media claim was a former Hezbollah guerrilla and Hezbollah official, displays his pictures published on front pages, as he sits in his house in the southern village of Jubbain, Lebanon Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007. Akil insisted he was never a fighter for the militant group. On Monday, Israel returned Akil and the bodies of two Hezbollah guerrillas in exchange for the corpse of an Israeli man who drowned at sea in early 2005. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Of course, neither Mohammed Zaatari nor the Associated Press have presented any evidence on either side, to confirm or deny whether this man is telling the truth. They merely report his Hezbullah propaganda verbatim, without a moment's thought.
How's that for in-depth journalism?
To the dopes in the Israeli government that cooked up this harebrained scheme: If you're going to release a Hezbullah fighter in hopes of getting back a citizen or soldier you care about, make sure it's the meanest, baddest, absolute most terrifying-looking thug that you can find. That way, the press can't pull crap like this atrocity on you later.
(Plus, if you release a total thug, you have two advantages: Namely that he is (a) most likely not the smartest one of the bunch, and (b), he'll be downright trivial to identify should you ever run into him again.)
Paging all clue-enabled Israelis: Please report to the Government immediately. They've been going it without you for far too long now.
Hezbollah member Hassan Naim Aqil is kissed by his mother Fatima at his home in al-Jubain village in south Lebanon October 16, 2007. Israel and Hezbollah exchanged the remains of an Israeli civilian on Monday for a captive Lebanese guerrilla and the bodies of two comrades in a U.N.-brokered deal. Israel freed prisoner Aqil, a Hezbollah fighter captured in the 2006 war, and handed over the bodies of Ali Wizwaz and Mohammed Damashqiah, who had apparently been taken to Israel after they died in the fighting in Lebanon. (Ali Hashisho/Reuters)
(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
(Ali Hashisho/Reuters)
(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Update: Obviously, we should take the word of a murderous group of thugs over that of a sovereign nation:
ebanese Hassan Akil, 45, who the Israeli media claim was a former Hezbollah guerrilla, picks olives near his house in the southern village of Jubbain, Lebanon in this Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007 photo. Akil's wife and a senior Hezbollah official insisted he was never a fighter for the militant group. On Monday, Israel returned Akil and the bodies of two Hezbollah guerrillas in exchange for the corpse of an Israeli man who drowned at sea in early 2005. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Tags: ali hashisho mohammed zaatari AP REUTERS #Israel/Lebanon War 2006
