The AFP is still writing stories about how Israel refuses to divulge state secrets to AFP reporters.
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel on Wednesday maintained an official blackout on an apparent strike by its warplanes on Syria, amid reports that the mysterious attack targeted weapons financed by arch-foe Iran.
No official Israeli comment was issued on allegations that its military carried out an attack deep inside Syria last Thursday, despite confirmation of a strike by a defence official of Israel’s main ally the United States.
That’s their lead, in spite of the rest of the article quoting various media sources (that are not AFP) explaining what really happened in Syria. I believe what we have hear is a hissy fit of mass proportions, or HFMP!, by the AFP.
Israeli officials have refused to comment on the report, as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert “specifically instructed ministers not to talk about the incident related to Syria at all,” a senior Israeli government official told AFP earlier this week. Really, you can almost see them stamping their feet in frustration.
This silence — uncharacteristic in a nation notorious for media leaks — continued on Wednesday, with even visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner saying he was also being kept in the dark.
“I asked my hosts and they did not inform me,” Kouchner told reporters in Jerusalem when asked about the reported strike, as he wrapped up his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
“If indeed… they have bombed a weapons convoy which was headed to Lebanon, we understand why they would do it,” he said. “Everybody in Lebanon knows that large quantities of weapons arrive from the Syrian border.”
Olmert bypassed his traditional interviews with Israeli newspapers ahead of the Jewish New Year that starts at sundown on Wednesday, leaving President Shimon Peres to mention Syria in only general terms.
Mon Dieux! The Israelis are refusing to tell the French foreign minister state secrets, either! C’est impossible! But—but—he is French! That means he has the right to know!
Really. Can you feel the anger? They quote three different news sources who apparently are getting quotes from somewhere, while whining that nobody is talking to the AFP. Okay, I know it’s the cheap, easy laugh, but dude—have you showered lately?
Ah, insulting the Frogs. It’s a time-honored American tradition. I once earned hundreds of dollars in a blogathon for doing that very thing.
I’m astonished they actually carried a positive quote by Kouchner. It undermines their whole anti-Israel spin. Well, maybe the editors will catch it on the update.