After watching Christiane Amanpour on and off for the past few hours, as well as the people she’s interviewed (fellow CNN reporters too), the CNN position is clear: Israel is bombing a densely-populated civilian area, and no matter what else happens, or why that occurred, that is the most important issue. She goes on and on about how many Palestinian casualties there are and then says “and only X Israeli casualties in X time”.
The CNN bias is clear and obvious: The poor, poor, pitiful Pals are being terrorized and brutalized by the Israeli war machine.
I think I’ll pass on any more CNN-viewing today.
You’re totally right about Amanpour, who I wrote off a long time ago. And while CNN tends to lean towards the pro-Palestinian view overall, it depends on who you watch. So far I’ve been pretty impressed with Anderson Cooper, who looks like he’s trying to being genuinely objective. Last night he kept asking Ben Wedeman, “isn’t Hamas using civilians as human shields?” until Wedeman could only sheepishly answer, “well, there aren’t other places in Gaza for civilians to go.”
On a side note, Wedeman repeated that point tonight with Amanpour, saying that there are no bomb shelters in Gaza. Of course, the obvious next question — why not? — was never asked…
Yes, true- Amanpour is beyond reproach already, but CNN actually has done a better job this time – with Nic Robertson reporting from Ashkelon, ducking under cars and pointing out rocket hits and sirens.
Help! I need to be able to argue intelligently with someone who believes Israel is acting disproportionately. She actually said that there have been zero Israeli casualties in the years leading up to this, and 500+ dead kids and families in Gaza since Israel fired back.
Send her here.
And don’t expect her to change her mind. She’s obviously not interested in the truth.
I can’t watch CNN. For some odd reason, every time I do, the TV set falls off the left side of it’s stand…
Besides, they have about the same credibility as a Governor of Illinois. Pick one.
Do you have a specific post that numbers casualties in Israel? I haven’t been following you long enough to know where to find it in your archives.
And you’re right — I don’t expect her to change her mind. She probably listens to Amanpour. This whole thing is ticking me off.
Jen – in order to argue this properly, the number of casualties is completely irrelevant. Here is an excellent, thorough overview of the legality of actions deemed “disproportionate” – http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/totten/48801
Thanks so much, LB. I’ll check into that article.
this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Qassam_rocket_attacks
cites 15 deaths from 3000+ rockets and 8 deaths from 2500+ mortar rounds fired between April 2001 and May 2008, with injuries many times that, as well as property damage, stress disorders, etc.