Thursday, July 20, 2006

Israeli Stats--CNN Doublespeak

An interesting observation from CNN online:
The Israeli military estimates that its air assault on Lebanon has destroyed
about half of Hezbollah's military strength. It is using ground forces to target
Hezbollah's remaining artillery, believed hidden in caves, tunnels and
basements.
CNN cannot independently confirm Israel's estimation of Hezbollah's military strength.

We find that last sentence kind of interesting. Whenever Hezbollah, the PLO, Hamas, or any other terrorist organization estimates things like numbers killed, targets destroyed, etc., CNN takes their numbers (usually blatant lies) and runs them without comment or vetting.

But the Israeli numbers here, undoubtedly fairly reliable, given the nature of war, are undercut by CNN's alleged inability to "independetnly confirm" Israeli estimates. Kind of quaint, don't you think. Is CNN's ideology showing?

Once again, a subtle, innocent little statement speaks volumes and, by its presence, turns this piece into an editorial rather than a news story.

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