Monday, July 17, 2006

An Unfortunate Choice of Words?

Tonight’s story on CNN was interesting for more than one reason.

First of all, it’s notable that the UN is pressuring the Lebanese government to do something:

Lebanon’s government should play a role to bring peace to the nation which has been crippled by violence between Israel and Hezbollah, said the chief of a United Nations delegation in Beirut on Monday.

The head of the delegation, Vijay Nambier, spoke with Lebanon’s parliament speaker and prime minister, and said more diplomacy is needed to come up with a solution to the conflict, which has entered its sixth day.

So the UN has apparently given up on browbeating the Zionist Entity over the current crisis, and has sent an envoy to scold the Lebanese instead. Maybe it’s because the Great Satan, for once, has refused to twist Israel’s arm behind the scenes in order to force it to accept some “compromise”.

Then there’s this:

Hezbollah guerrillas sparked the crisis last week when they crossed from southern Lebanon into Israel in a raid that killed three Israeli soldiers and led to the kidnapping of two others.

A clear statement about the responsibility of Hizbullah for the conflict! Are we sure this is CNN?

The article goes on to describe the high stakes for Lebanon in the unfolding war. It seems clear, accurate, and mostly free of spin; very unusual for CNN.

But here’s what really made me sit up and take notice:

“We have made many efforts to improve the situation, and our teams have discussed these issues with the Lebanese government, and we will continue to discuss these suggestions and ideas, and we will come back to Lebanon to develop and explore these ideas further,” Nambier said.

“And of course, we should spend more diplomatic work to reach a final solution, and the parties should know that the consequences of failure are great, and time is critical, and there should be creative solutions to end these crises.” [emphasis added]

A Freudian slip, perhaps? Or should we call it a Hitlerian slip?

Not quite the solution I expected…

7 comments:

Frank said...

Israel is being completely intransigent. They won't even consider making a small gesture of goodwill to Hezbollah...not even a hypothetical long range timetable for the withdrawal of Jews into the sea and a razing of the state of Israel. Its not like Hezbollah is asking Israelis to wear stars or anything.

Voyager said...

Does this Lebanese Govt include or exclude Hezbollah when the UN representative calls ?

Somehow Lebanon gives the appearance of a failed state, maybe that is a consequence of "multiculturalism" - it has consequences when a war is being waged against Israel from Lebanese territory. If Israel were the United States the B-52s would be clearing a DMZ in Southern Lebanon by now.

airforcewife said...

And the worst part is that this is not the first time that CNN has made that gaffe.

You would think that with all the pussyfooting around using the word "crusade" they would be sensitive to the even worse connotations of "final solution."

Oh, wait. No they wouldn't.

As a bit of an aside... For those who were horrified by Munich - Just bought the documentary "One Day in September" to show my daughter as part of her homeschool course next year (History of the Twentieth Century).

Must watch. It's awesome. With a documentary that good, there was no need for a feature film.

Jude the Obscure said...

Air Force Wife - Oddly enough, 'One Day in September' was shown on national television here in NZ last Friday (14th).

BTW - what is Hamas doing now? Have they gone quiet while they watch from their hidey holes?

Papa Ray said...

While the politicians handle the heavy, serious work of saving the region if not the world, the overworked IDF is hurrying to get dressed up and ready for the dance.

It's going to be a shame that about the time they get into the first dance, the music will be stopped on account the world is not ready for it's economy to be trashed.

Money talks, and bull.... (doing the right thing) walks.

Papa Ray
West Texas
USA

Baron Bodissey said...

Paul --

Do you remember the DC functionary who got in so much trouble for using the word "niggardly" in the presence of a black person who had no idea of its meaning?

I think Mr. Nambier deserves at least as much opprobrium for his inadvertent faux pas.

Voyager said...

t's going to be a shame that about the time they get into the first dance, the music will be stopped on account the world is not ready for it's economy to be trashed.

Yes I do hope the USA will resource Israel's economy now that Haifa is closed and make sure that when ground forces have to fight in the Bekaa Valley the US can stabilise the Israeli economy