Articles Roundup: Lebanese Body Count At Least Half of Reported Figures

-Hasdai Westbrook asks Why Lebanon is more important than Darfur.

The killing and gang-rape continue. The peace agreement has proved fictional, the African Union force near-useless, and half of Darfur’s people have no access to humanitarian aid thanks to attacks on aid workers. At least 200,000 people have already died [actually, over 400,000 --JW], a number that could be dwarfed if current conditions persist. So why no international pressure on Khartoum? Why no cease fire, no peacekeeping force of Turks, French and Italians? Why no deployment of troops even to protect the refugees now being hunted by the Janjaweed in Chad?
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-LGF has a video of The Grand Mufti Of Jerusalem meeting with Hitler. It is very well yet very scarcely discussed that the Grand Mufti was extremely anti-semitic, openly called for Palestinians to carry out Jihad or pogroms against the Jews. He met with Hitler after writing to him, telling him how much he admired him and what he was doing, and wanted to discuss carrying out the "Final Sollution" against the Jews in Palestine. Along with commanding a Muslim Waffen SS unit, the Mufti also toured Auschwitz and planned on building a replica of the extermination camp to implement in Palestine in order to exterminate the Jews of Palestine. "Unfortunately" for him, he never got to carry out his plan.READ THE REST...
-Numerous "intellectuals" are signing petitions to boycott Israel for her actions against Hezbollah.

[...]Statement by Workers in the Public Cultural Sphere in Lebanon, July 27, 2006
(Signatures updated, July 31, 2006)

We the undersigned declare:
1) Our conscious support for the Lebanese national resistance as it wages a war in defense of our sovereignty and independence, a war to release Lebanese imprisoned in Israel, a war to safeguard the dignity of the Lebanese and Arab people.

2) Our unambiguous refutation of the logic that accuses HizbAllah of having provided the "pretext" for the Israeli invasion. Israel did not invade Lebanon, destroy its infrastructure, displace and murder its populace because of the heroic operation carried out by HizbAllah. Israel has never needed a pretext to breach the sovereignty of Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, or other nations. Rather, the recent Israeli aggression is the latest in a long series extending back to the founding of the Zionist state and motivated by both historical ambitions vis-à-vis Lebanese territory and waters and by a racist supremacist ideology that denigrates the indigenous population, their culture, and their very existence.
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-Joel Mowbray, of The Washington Times discusses the problem with presenting "false images".

Presenting false images
By Joel Mowbray
Published August 16, 2006

When Reuters was forced to sever ties with free-lance photographer Adnan Hajj and remove more than 900 of his photos from its database earlier this month, long-whispered questions about the reliability of Arab stringers and freelancers came to the forefront.

But while the widespread use of Arab locals in covering the Middle East raises many legitimate concerns, the Palestinian propaganda machine has enjoyed tremendous success over the years hoodwinking supposedly sophisticated Western journalists. And Hezbollah appears to have done the same over the past month.

In short, almost nothing that is purported to happen in the Arab world can automatically be taken at face value. Not even if it's captured in a photo.
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-It seems that the left-wing liberal elites of the world are teaming up in their denunciation of Israel and calling for it to be "wiped off the face of the map". Of course, in their version, Israel ceases to exist in "peaceful" manner.

-Joseph Farah, at World Net Daily, reports that the reported fatality numbers reported by PM Seniora and his cabinet have been exaggerated by at least half. Seniora reported that by the time the "cease-fire" at least 1,000 civilians had been killed by Israeli forces. However, as Farah reports, the complete death toll, which includes, civilians, terrorists, and Army members reach approximately 500. The IDF has reported that they killed at least 400 Hezbollah fighters and terrorists. That would mean that only about 100 civilians were indirectly killed, which roughly equals Israel's death toll. How "proportionant"... I am republishing the entire article.

All eyes on Lebanon
By Joseph Farah
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

You know, it's funny.

For years I've been trying to get people to pay attention to the deaths and destruction and injustices being perpetrated on my beloved Lebanon. And nobody cared.

When Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Liberation Organization tried to take over the country and make it his terrorist playground, nobody cared.
When people were dying by the thousands in the civil war, nobody cared.
When Syria had its boot on the neck of its tiny neighbor for 25 years, nobody cared.
When Iran dispatched Hezbollah terrorists into the country to undermine home rule by Lebanese, nobody cared.
When Muslims chased millions of Christians from the country, tipping the balance of power, nobody cared.

But now, all eyes are on Lebanon.

Do you know why?

Because Israel has tried to clean up this hornet's nest. Yet, all we hear about is how many Lebanese are dying.
Can I let you in on a little secret?

Guess what the total death toll is among Lebanese during the extent of this war – including Hezbollah terrorists, many of whom are not really Lebanese?
You better sit down.

The total death toll is just over 500.

Now, far be it for me to minimize death tolls. One innocent death is a tragedy. But this is the total – all terrorists, civilians, Lebanese army, everything. The whole world is going nuts over this "slaughter."

What is needed is some perspective here. May I offer it?

Last month alone, U.S. troops in Afghanistan announced killing 600 "suspected" Taliban. That's one month alone. We've been occupying this foreign country since 2002. It began in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. U.S. forces went halfway around the world to attack a sovereign nation, to overthrow the government and kill as many people as it deemed necessary over the last five years to prevent more terrorist attacks in the future. Few would suggest that Afghanistan represents any imminent threat to the U.S. today. By the way, according to U.S. military spokesmen, a total of 1,700 Afghanis have been killed since the start of the year. That includes some civilians, some aid workers and more than 70 foreign troops.

But, last time I checked, there weren't demonstrations in the streets of the U.S. or elsewhere around the world over this war.

Instead, everybody is going ape over Lebanon.

By the way, the government of Afghanistan, installed by the U.S., is happy about the war. President Hamid Karzai wants to see the terrorists rooted out of his country. He recognizes it represents the best chance for his nation to be free. Meanwhile, back in Lebanon, a government that has tolerated terrorist bases on its soil for years and years is suddenly indignant about Israel's retaliation against incessant attacks from those strongholds.

Does any of this make sense?

Do you think those screaming about the bloodshed in Lebanon really give a hoot about Lebanon? If so, where have they been for the last 30 years?

Why is Lebanon the top story in every newscast? Why is Lebanon on the front page of every newspaper? Don't you get the impression that the violence there is probably worse than anywhere else on the planet from this focus?

Clearly it is not.

And the only difference is who's doing the butt kicking in Lebanon.

As for me, an American of Lebanese and Syrian heritage, I don't want to see a "cease-fire." I want to see Lebanon freed of the terrorist blight, once and for all. I want to see Lebanon freed from domination by Iran and Syria. I want to see Lebanon be Lebanon. I don't want to see Lebanon suffer for another 30 years. It's time to clean up the mess and allow this poor, little country to heal.

And that means getting rid of the disease of Hezbollah – now.

Joseph Farah is founder, editor and CEO of WND and a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate. His latest book is "Taking America Back." He also edits the weekly online intelligence newsletter Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, in which he utilizes his sources developed over 30 years in the news business.