Reuters were caught with their pants well and truly down when photographs taken by Adnan Hajj were beamed around the world. After discovering that two photographs were doctored, Reuters have pulled all of the Hajj photographs from their archives. In some respects this is commendable because they have admitted that a mistake was made. However, what is not commendable is the way in which Reuters, AP and others have denied that photographs taken in Qana could have been staged.
As a Johnny-come-Lately to this controversy, I see no reason to rehash information that can be found at Little Green Footballs, European Referendum, Jawa Report, the Bullpen and other blogs in the blogosphere. The perspective that I want to bring to this discussion is my own outrage over the way in which dead babies and children have been exploited by the Hezbollah propaganda machine.
The Israelis did three raids over Qana on the morning in question. The first raids occurred somewhere between 12.00 - 1.00 a.m. The Hezbolloah propaganda machine claims that more than 50 people died in the raid, mostly women and children. I do not recall seeing any published photographs of the mass funeral that should have followed such a large number of deaths (that is another new line of enquiry). I have seen some photographs of what appears to be adults (approximately 4 adult males) that have been covered by sheets as they were left lying near the rubble of the building in question. There are no photographs depicting the alleged 34 women, but there are photographs of a baby and two very dead little girls. It is the photographs of the children that has made me feel so totally disgusted about the new lows that are being reached by photojournalists.
The whole incident raises many questions in my mind, but not one of those questions cast Israel in the role of war criminals, even though that is what Hezbollah wants to have seared in our minds. No, the real war criminals are Hezbollah for they are the ones who have taken their rocket launchers into civilian areas and have placed the civilian population at risk. To their credit the Israelis have warned the civilian population to leave prior to any bombing raid. If they did not leave the area then whose fault is that? This is not about apportioning blame on either side, because this is about the way in which these three children were used as a photo opportunity.
There are two men (perhaps three) who form a part of the method Hezbollah actors at Qana. The one known as Green Helmet is the one who had his mug plastered all over newspapers around the world. He is depicted carrying a little girl and crying. Yet, in another scene he can be seen manhandling this child and her dead companions. The baby's body is lifted up as though it is a trophy. Perhaps it is a trophy because the leftist ratbag journalists from around the world seized upon the photo opportunity to pour out their invective against Israel. Not one of them questioned whether the men looked too clean to be rescue workers as was claimed. The other man of interest is the one wearing a white t-shirt. He uses the same children as a phot opportunity. Then there is the third man in army fatigues who has entered the ambulance and he crudely manhandles the poor little dead girl.
The way in which these children have been manhandled is really quite sickening. They are pushed and prodded as the men pause to have their photographs taken in what can only be described as a piece of propaganda that has been designed to sir up world opinion against Israel, and at least amongst the Arabs the strategy appears to be working. The fearless and intrepid leader of the UN, Mr Koffi Annan has once again proven how little he know about the Geneva protocols regarding the placement of weapons amongst a civilian population, as he rages and rails against Israel, claiming that the Israelis are war criminals, whilst he turns a blind eye to the actions of Hezbollah.
The photo opportunities have not ended at Qana, for two year boy was also pulled from the rubble in raids that took place in Chiari. The same gruesome procedure was repeated. The baby was lifted up as though he was a trophy by a man who looked very much like he could be an Hezbollah operative.
We should be condemning the abuse of the dead by these war criminals in Lebanon. The real criminals are those who seem to have total access to the Hezbollah strongholds, and who condone the manhandling of dead children for the sake of a photo opportunity.
What bothers me the most about the photographs is the way that they appeared to have been staged by Hezbollah. The AP and Reuters have denied the staging of the photographs, but there are things about them that seem to be too well orchestrated, not to call into question the motive behind the shots. The first shots that I saw were those of a baby, taken from the rubble a Qana. He looks like he was in rubble, yet he has a clean dummy. Is that possible? To my untrained eye I cannot tell if what is covering him is dust or whether it is the decomposition of his body. I suspect that it is not dust. There are no marks indicating that he was injured during a building collapse. The latest picture that I viewed was of a slightly older child in Chiara. This child showed the obvious signs of injury upon his body.
If the men of Qana were so concerned about their families, why is it that they did not send them away and into a safe area? They had ample opportunity to remove them from harm's way. On the other hand, it is possible that the dead were not from Qana, but they were from the surrounding district (that is if they were alive prior to the bombing raids).
This form of photojournalism , a form that shows no respect for the dead, must not be allowed to continue. Whilst it is regrettable if civilians died at Qana, it is abhorrent to see the way in which the children have been used as political footballs.
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