I’m sure everyone has heard about or read Washington Post Pentagon correspondent Thomas Ricks’ report, suggesting Israel has deliberately allowed Hezbollah to retain some of its rockets in order to win the PR War. At first I thought to suggest such a thing was pure lunacy. But the more I considered it… well, desperate times… desperate measures. Afterall, there is no denying that Hezbollah is purposely placing its civilians in harm’s way. Israel had to do something to counteract the shots it’s taking in the PR War.
It seems the role of the non-combatant has indeed changed because of the emerging PR War that has to be won.
Does the media realize it is the instigator in all this? Probably not.
Here’s the main part of the transcript:
HOWARD 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.
For more:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0608/06/rs.01.html
More useful reading:
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10058387.html
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson080406.html
http://lebanesebloggers.blogspot.com/
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/28864.html
