From analyst BB comes the following transcript, in which the Post's Tom Ricks -- author of Fiasco, the searing account of U.S. blunders in Iraq -- says that U.S. military sources are telling him that Israel has "purposely has left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they're being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon." Here's the text:
SHOW: CNN RELIABLE SOURCES
August 6, 2006 Sunday
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT
Host: Howard Kurtz, media critic, Washington Post
Guest: Thomas Ricks, Washington Post
KURTZ: And joining us now here Thomas Ricks, Pentagon reporter for the Washington Post and author of the new book Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. Tom Ricks, you've covered a number of military conflicts, including Iraq, as I just mentioned. Is civilian casualties increasingly going to be a major media issue? In conflicts where you don't have two standing armies shooting at each other?
THOMAS RICKS: I think it will be. But I think civilian casualties are also part of the battlefield play for both sides here. One of the things that is going on, according to some U.S. military analysts, is that Israel purposely has left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they're being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon.
KURTZ: Hold on, you're suggesting that Israel has deliberately allowed Hezbollah to retain some of it's fire power, essentially for PR purposes, because having Israeli civilians killed helps them in the public relations war here?
RICKS: Yes, that's what military analysts have told me.
KURTZ: That's an extraordinary testament to the notion that having people on your own side killed actually works to your benefit in that nobody wants to see your own citizens killed but it works to your benefit in terms of the battle of perceptions here.
RICKS: Exactly. It helps you with the moral high ground problem, because you know your operations in Lebanon are going to be killing civilians as well.
Comments (5)
Dear Robert,
Is it possible you got gamed on this Ricks-Kurtz dialogue? I can't find it mentioned anywhere else on the web, including the CNN site.
Best regardas,
I'm Hough
Posted by Lawrence Houghteling | August 7, 2006 6:16 PM
Posted on August 7, 2006 18:16
For reader L. Houghtaling: Well, I checked, and the transcript I posted is accurate. So I wasn't "gamed." But I think we are all being "gamed" by Israel.
Posted by Robert Dreyfuss | August 8, 2006 2:34 PM
Posted on August 8, 2006 14:34
I guess it's acceptable for the media to quote anonymous sources as long as it fits the agenda.
You really think a military force would leave behind arms in this way?
Who pulls your strings?
Posted by R. Smith | August 8, 2006 5:56 PM
Posted on August 8, 2006 17:56
Reader Houghteling:
First hit with Google: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0608/06/rs.01.html
See for yourself.
Posted by Colin Brace | August 11, 2006 6:05 PM
Posted on August 11, 2006 18:05
At least Engel asmits that his proximity to the Lebanese more than likely created a sympthetic tone to his writing.
He also admits the Hezbollah told him what to film and what not to film "Look, we're serious, we will kill you if you film these outgoing rockets."
Appeasement will not stop them from trying to kill your family or destroy your way of life. Start reporting both sides and get the WHOLE truth out there.
Posted by R. Smith | September 1, 2006 4:29 PM
Posted on September 1, 2006 16:29