The Worst Editorializing Yet from AP on the Triumph for the Lebanese People

Earlier this morning, I showed how AP colored its report on the new Lebanese unity agreement with editorial opinions and hypothetical conclusions. I said that the empire’s damage-control machine is moving into overdrive. Well… it is now at a fevered pitch and running out of gears to grind.

The Lebanese people are on the verge of experiencing truly representative government—a people’s republic with governmental checks and balances and smaller demographic districts not just based on religion. It is a win for Lebanon and the region, but especially the historically downtrodden and neglected Jnoubi (people of the South).

And AP is Furious!

Yesterday’s headline was titled “Lebanon’s feuding factions reach agreement,” and was loaded with short-sighted analysis, framing it as a “win for Hezbollah.” According to the Lebanese figures interviewed by AP, and even according to even hard and fast enemies of Hizballah, it was a win for ALL of Lebanon. But that didn’t faze the fair-and-balanced editors at AP. So, today’s headline is “Deal in Lebanon a win for Hezbollah.”

Do these editors have no shame? Apparently not. Their biased language has been kicked up to a feverd pitch, approaching op-ed territory. Keep in mind: This AP report is released as a “news wire report”—NOT an editorial or op-ed. This means the reporter and editor are bound by journalistic standards, such as a minimalist approach to the use of adjectives, conjecture, and other over-editorializing.

But this is AP, and like I’ve said before, they aren’t bothered with journalistic constraints.

I will simply copy-and-paste the paragraphs where the empire-apologizing crooks (AP editors) injected their opinionated fraud, with bold emphasis on the offending phrases, starting with the opening paragraph.

Hezbollah secured veto power over Lebanon’s Western-backed government on Wednesday, leaving the militant group virtually free to build up its weapons, including rockets aimed at Israel.

But all of Hizballah’s weapons are those “aimed at Israel.” That’s their purpose. This is the first instance of a journalistic fraud that permeates the entire report: Israel-worshiping.

But as the political winner, Hezbollah also faces pressure to seek compromise rather than confront opponents, as it had done violently in recent weeks.

This is a fraud. Hizballah and its supporters have practiced non-violent civil disobedience and sought peaceful dialogue since their sit-in protest began in December 2006.

The deal to end Lebanon’s long stalemate allows a triumphant Hezbollah and its allies back into the government after street fighting reminiscent of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Again: the people of Lebanon triumphed via their Hizballah representatives’ diligent efforts. But AP insists on painting it as only a victory for the “extremist, violent, militant, Shiite, militia Hizballah and its anti-U.S. and anti-Israel allies.” Bringing up shades of civil war at this point is merely AP’s wishful thinking more than anything.

Hezbollah patrons Iran and Syria praised the agreement, which seems certain to strengthen Iran’s hand as it vies for influence in Iraq and across the Middle East.

Pure neocon and beltway talking-point opinion. Ooh! That scary third-world threat!

Washington also put on a positive spin, despite the new power gained by a group that fought Israel in 2006 and is labeled as terrorist by the United States.

This is AP in total denial mode. They’re so caught up in trying to link U.S. and Israeli interests against Hizballah; they accuse U.S. representatives of being disingenuous.  It’s a put-on, I tell ya! And oh my! They actually fought the beloved Zionist invaders! We can’t have that! Big Brother says they’re terrsts! I just know you’re concerned as we are for Israel’s existence!

“It’s a necessary and positive step,” said David Welch, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East. “It’s not for us to decide how Lebanon does this.”

See? AP is even more hard-lined than Welch. But don’t worry. They’ll fix him. They know exactly how to marginalize even the majority sentiment. Here’s how:

For most observers, the deal appeared “a pretty straightforward win” for Hezbollah, in the words of Paul Salem, the Beirut-based head of the Middle East Center of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Notice the only words in quotes are a pretty straightforward win. Notice the phrases for most observers and Hezbollah are NOT put in double quotes. Why is that? Because if they quoted Mr. Salem entirely, it would have appeared as though MOST LEBANESE PEOPLE won, and not just Hizballah. AP is sneaky like that. They are the best when it comes to creating shape-shifting through selective quoting.

But he noted: “The flip side is that it would usher in a period of accommodation and calm and stability” in Lebanon. That could help calm other parts of the Mideast, given Lebanon’s frequent role as a proxy for regional battles.

So, according to AP, clam and stability are harmful side effects? What, then, is the norm?

Tension in Beirut seemed to unwind almost immediately, with Hezbollah and supporters dismantling a protest camp near the prime minister’s office. The camp had sapped activity from Beirut’s modern downtown and created a dour, even menacing aura.

Whose opinion is that? Two derisive adjectives and zero testimonials or evidence. Journalistic fraud. It’s the democratic phenomenon of civil disobedience, but AP implies that it was anarchy and lawlessness.

Even if Lebanon remains calm for a period, however, the deal only increases the potential for instability in a weak state where religious and clan loyalties often seem to trump national allegiance.

Really? Says who? AP is is trying to suggest a state of disarray into being simply by conjectural implication.

Hezbollah in effect operates a “state within a state” inside key parts of Lebanon — the south, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa valley near Syria — with its own police, army and social services. That makes Lebanon an ideal incubator for the group’s military clout, just as Afghanistan served as a haven and staging ground for al-Qaida.

Wow. This is grand. Whose neocon-Likudnik ass did AP pull that out of? This reads like a Jerusalem Post editorial, not a news agency report. Pure neocon talking points.

Unlike Sunni al-Qaida, Shiite Hezbollah is a social and political movement inspired by Iran’s Islamic revolution. It is believed to have pulled back from the kind of spectacular terrorist attacks it conducted in the 1980s and 1990s against U.S. targets.

Believed by whom? Neocon-Likudniks? That is shear fabrication. The only ones who insist on perpetuating this fraud are Hizballah’s state enemies and their sycophants. There is zero proof that Hizballah committed terror attacks against U.S. targets. Even the 1983 attack on the U.S. marine barracks, falsely attributed to Hizballah, was an act of war—NOT terrorism.

Nevertheless, its private army is growing with Iranian and Syrian assistance and it clearly still targets Israel.

Nope. Hizballah is a public government entity. Their communications system is private, as are their training grounds—not unusual or suspect for a national militia. And Hizballah “clearly targets Israel”? How does AP know this? Even if Hizballah does target Israel, so what? That’s their duty as defenders against invaders and occupation armies.

The agreement struck in Qatar does not force Hezbollah to give up its weapons, putting no restraints on its ability to obtain rockets and bury them in south Lebanon for potential use against Israel.

Ooh! Poor Israel again! Is AP a front for Israeli government? This “news report” is more about Israel than it is about Lebanon. What a sad, sad, sad shame.

It also has a private telephone network — an important communications tool for any military force, and the spark for the violent fighting with government supporters that led 67 deaths and then prompted the political deal.

Nope. The spark was when the U.S. and Israeli puppet government decided to disable Hizballah’s ability to defend Lebanon against the Israeli terrorist invasions. And it’s pretty ridiculous when AP is so foaming-at-the-mouth to paint Hizballah as criminals, they use the word VIOLENT when it’s clearly redundant. All such fighting that results in deaths is violent. How obvious can you get?

In addition, Hezbollah managed to force the government to overturn efforts to dismiss an airport security chief linked to it. That could potentially allow Hezbollah to funnel money or contraband through the airport. It also is a sign that Hezbollah, as part of the government, will have no future problems in having a say in the appointments of top security officials, in the police or army. Such developments are likely to raise concern in Israel of another looming confrontation.

Yeah, so what? And what does AP mean by “contraband”? And again: who is AP working for? Mossad? It appears Israeli agents are speaking through AP. All this concern for Israel, who wields hundreds of nukes and the best U.S. military wherewithal U.S. taxpayers can be looted for. But it’s poor Israel!

Already, said Gen. Amos Yadlin, head of Israeli military intelligence, there is a “massive Hezbollah presence,” including rockets, combat forces and observation points, south of the Litani river near Israel, in violation of a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that ended the 2006 war. U.N. patrols in the area have not reported similar claims, though the United Nations has complained about illicit arms shipments to Hezbollah and Israeli overflights.

Yeah, but they only have clear evidence of one of those—hundreds of daily Israeli overflights and incursions. All the rest is a bunch of hooey coming out of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and D.C. (Apparently where AP gets its marching orders from.)

Overall, there are only two likely brakes on some future Hezbollah action against Israel. One would be a Syrian-Israeli peace deal, which would push the Syrian-backed Hezbollah toward accommodation with Israel. Syria and Israel confirmed Wednesday they are holding indirect talks but many obstacles remain in the way.

Again, this obsession with zeroing-out everything at the Israeli government’s point-of-view. This is just further proof that AP is a mouthpiece for neocon-Likudnik policy in the region.

The second possible brake is the fact that Hezbollah is now compelled to work within Lebanon’s government, rather than against it, in a country with a multitude of sects and shifting alliances.

Nope. Hizballah has always been in the government and willing to working with it, even on sharp points of contention; otherwise, they would have overthrown it a long time ago. Hizballah is only now able to participate at a level more representative of the demographics of its constituents.

And WTF is wrong with a political party working against ”the government” anyway? It’s called democracy and conflict-resolution. But according to AP, if you don’t toe the Big Brother State line, you’re against progress and democracy and freedom and… the holy cow Israel! Like AP’s cronies in D.C. say: ”If you’re not with us, you’re against us.”

It is almost impossible for any one group to dominate such a diverse country, as foreign invaders or occupiers over the centuries have learned. That could force Hezbollah to compromise with other Lebanese factions not eager for another war with Israel.

Why does AP imply that Hizballah wants to “dominate” Lebanon? Why imply that they are “eager” to wage war against Israel? This makes Hizballah out to be the perpetual aggressor when the opposite is true. Pure Israel-worshiping.

Yet the same deal that gave Hezbollah a veto over unfriendly government actions also set up a new electoral system likely to give its allies a bigger chunk of parliamentary seats.

Or perhaps those “unfriendly” government actions are sometimes actually DETRIMENTAL to Lebanon or DANGEROUS or UNLAWFUL or TYRANNICAL or TOO LOYAL TO ISRAEL, as the editors at AP obviously are.

Hezbollah spokesman Ghassan Darwish said after the deal was announced: “We are now strongly participating in the country’s decision-making, after having been kept away from participation.”

Imagine that. The only unmolested, unspun, and truthful piece of journalism appears as the final paragraph. Too bad readers had to shovel through a bunch of Israeli-inspired, state-worshiping bullshit to get to it.

Bravo, Lebanon!

Buzz off, AP.

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