Saying No to the Culture of Death

Over the past few weeks the blogosphere's post mortem of the alleged massacre at Qana has been bubbling along and gathering pace. There have been stirrings on both sides of the Atlantic, from EUReferendum and Little Green Footballs, as well as other bloggers who have been bringing the story of Qana and their perspectives of that story to all who read blogs. The initial scrutiny of the photographs of Adnan Hajj ended up with his sacking from Reuters because it was discovered that he did a lousy Photoshop touch-up job. Then the bloggers discovered that a really close inspection of these photographs indicated that the scene was staged to some extent. The MSM, represented by AP and Reuters deny that any staging was involved. However, evidence has been coming to light that points the finger squarely at Hezbollah as the perpetrators of the crime that was committed on July 30 2006.

When I first heard that there had been a large loss of civilian life at Qana, I reacted in the same way as a majority of people. I was dismayed to learn that the IDF had blundered by carrying out a bombing raid that took the lives of children. However, I have discovered that it is possible that thre has been a very unexpected twist in this story. Many of the children who died were handicapped, and we now know that there were 15 handicapped children in the building. Two of the photographs that have been taken by the fauxtographers point to the fact that the children were handicapped. The baby boy, whose body was disrespected through a trimphal display of his dead body, might not have had his toes on one foot. There there is the older boy who looks like he had Down's Syndrome. These startling revelations are sufficient for me to continue with my own line of reasoning - that Hezbollah set up Israel, the Lebanon Government, and the people in the building so that there would be another massacre that was designed to take focus away from the disarming of Hezbollah. The ruse might have worked, except for the skill of a group of bloggers from all parts of the world who have been taking an interest in what really happened.

The man at the centre of attemtion in Qana is the man that we have dubbed "Green Helmet". He is dressed to look like he is a civil defense worker. He has the uniform of a civil defense worker, and it is probable that this is his day job. However, some of the video footage that is now available over the net has shown the man to be nothing more than a cynical member of Hezbollah whose game is to set up photo opportunities in the hope that propaganda against Israel will spread and bring with it the condemnation of those nasty Jews, who are after all only trying to survive amongst a den of thieve and murderers. The footage that has been analyzed shows how Green Hemet was directing the staging of the rescue. The footage also shows how at least three of the "rescue workers" went on a run with the dead bodies of children, pretending to feel emotion over their deaths. One German TV station provided footage of Green Helmet telling his workers to remove a child from the ambulance and to take more film of that child. The way in which the privacy of that little boy was abused is totally disgusting.

Taking into consideration the mounting evidence that points to Hezbollah staging the shots of the victims, I was still surprised, and sickened to learn that handicapped children were taken to that building and that they were being cynically used as bait in order to boost the standing of Hezbollah in the community. The IDF have provided footage that pin pointed Qana as a spot where rocket launchers were being used. Despite the denials of the people of the village of Qana(more likely they are Hezbollah operatives, including the women) that there were rockets being fired from Qana, the available evidence points to the people who have made these claims to be liars. So in what other way have they, in reality lied about the massacre at Qana?

First, I believe that there were rocket launchers within the precinct of that building. There is no other reason for the area to become the target of Israel bombing raids. The Israelis have gone out of their way to ensure the safety of all civilians and they dropped leaflets telling the civilian population to leave. Yet, according to Hezbollah sources, the people in the wrecked building stayed because they did not understand the immediate danger of the situation. Is there another more rational reason as to why these people were placed in that particular building? This is where the emerging theory begins to make sense. The efforts to stop the "war" between Israel and Hezbollah had been coming to a grinding halt. Hezbollah was not happy with the fact that the Prime Minister of the Lebanese government wanted to see Hezbollah disarmed in line with a previous U.N. resolution. Nasrallah knew that if a scene was staged at Qana again, that this would be a cringe factor, not only in Israel, but around the world. He also knew that in order to get what he wants, he had to have a second massacre at Qana. He has almost pulled this off.

Second, I believe that the people who lost their lives in that building were being used by a cynical bunch who are members of the culture of death, because they were prepared to use the handicapped in order to get what they want. To illustrate how these children have been used, I point to the following photos:

Have a look at the cynical pose of Green Helmet. He is directing the people surrounding the ambulance as the press are invited to photograph the child. The actual video footage shows Green Helmet talking into his cell phone, giving directions that the child's body is to be pulled from the ambulance, and that more shots are to be taken. He removes the blanket that covers the child's face so that the fauxtographers, who are by now complicit in the staging of these scenes, can get some more shots. As the German station says, the child is being abused because of the cynical way in which his little life and his death is considered as propaganda fodder by the MSM and by Hezbollah.

Of interest in this shot of the baby is the fact that his foot is exposed by the fauxtographer. It looks as if he has deformed toes on one foot. Keeping in mind that these are not high definition photographs that I am viewing, it is possible that he is quite normal. This is one of many poses of Green Helmet posing with this child. With the complicity of AP, Green Helmet claims that he only held up one child - this baby - and in response to the clamouring of the fauxtographers. He has also claimed that he displayed this child and other children because he was angry with Israel. It seems that he has contradicted the story that he gave to Kathy Gannon of AP. Even so, there are heaps of photographs with Green Helmet holding various children. It was definitely not a one off situation.

Exactly how far the staging has gone in Qana is anyone's guess. Even so, it does not alter the fact that people died as a result of a bombing raid. Whilst the bleeding hearts on the left side of politics are prepared to lay all blame on Israel, I do think that they need to investigate whether or not Hezbollah deliberately engineered the "massacre" at Qana. There are many contradictions, in the stories that have been told about what happened, when the building collapsed, when the civil defense arrived, and then the denial of staged phototagraphic opportunities. The photographers did not set up the staging per se, but they must have known that the display was being put on for their own benefit. The propaganda value of a dead baby is immense. In the Arabic Middle East the sight of that child is sufficient to drum up more support for Hezbollah. It is enough to get the hoardes running through the streets, looting and rioting, and acting like a bunch of billy goats. It had an impact amongst the Muslims in a number of countries, for they, like their Lebanese counterparts do not have the will to see through the ruse that has been played out by Hezbollah.

It is possible that up to 15 children were in fact killed at Qana. My own count of body bags only reached 15, which is 13 short of the final Red Cross count for the number of dead (50% less than the figure bandied about by Green Helmet and his Hezbollah colleagues.)The scandal that remains is the way in which these children were allowed to suffer such a horrible death. If, as has been suggested that handicapped children were used as human shields by Hezbollah in an effort to derail the Lebanese government peace initiatives, then the world should be getting louder in its condemnation of Hezbollah, and not treating them as either freedom fighters or heroes. They are not freedom fighters because of their association with the Revolutionary Guard in Iran.