Article

2005-03-09 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Ex-PM: Hezbollah rally in Beirut a massive hoax

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Posted by Steve 2005-03-09 11:33:02 AM|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 There may have been a few thousand Syrians at the rally; there may have been a few thousand govt workers; but the vast majority of attendees were lower income Shiites.

I do like the comment,

"..Hezbollah "drove through the streets with loudspeakers urging followers to get to Beirut for the protest."

reminds me of the Blues Brothers movie

Posted by mhw 2005-03-09 12:24:13 PM|| 2005-03-09 12:24:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 "Rent-a-Crowd, how may I direct your call?"

"So, let me read your order back to you:

500,000 day after tomorrow. Beirut. I've got you down for our Premium Seething Option. We're having a special on Giant Puppets today: Buy a George Bush and Don Rumsfeld, you get a Condi Rice for half-off. No? Okay. We'll just stick to American flags to burn. Why, yes, we can pre-soak them in gasoline for you. Thanks for placing your order."

Posted by Dreadnought 2005-03-09 12:26:50 PM|| 2005-03-09 12:26:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Please - No one photoshop Howard Dean's head onto one of the "Head-Bowler" protestors. No one would believe it.

Begala, OK, we'd all accept that But not Dean - no one would believe it. He was seen in the US yesterday. Begala is MIA since the cancellation of Crossfire...

Posted by BigEd 2005-03-09 12:32:27 PM|| 2005-03-09 12:32:27 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Dammit Dreadnought, give a COFFEE ALERT next time!

Posted by CrazyFool 2005-03-09 12:52:34 PM|| 2005-03-09 12:52:34 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 ive seen references to lebanese paper saying the crowds were heavily Syrian, but no citations. If any has such a citation, please post it here, as it would be helpful in an argument im having elsewhere. Or a quote from the western press but (other than the Wash Times, which does say so, but wont be considered credible to my target audience)

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-03-09 12:58:10 PM|| 2005-03-09 12:58:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Did CNN happen to put a young man on camera proclaiming, "~~Saddam Hussein~~ Bashar Assad; a very good man"?
Maybe someone should tell ~~Goofy~~ Kofi that
Hezbollah may not be the force he reckoned it to be.

Posted by GK 2005-03-09 1:01:35 PM|| 2005-03-09 1:01:35 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 DN, ROTF

Posted by Matt 2005-03-09 1:07:59 PM|| 2005-03-09 1:07:59 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Toldja so. ;-p

Posted by Barbara Skolaut 2005-03-09 1:08:38 PM|| 2005-03-09 1:08:38 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 other than the Wash Times, which does say so, but wont be considered credible to my target audience

Why bother with them, then? They've already decided to reject evidence that doesn't suit their prejudices.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-03-09 1:09:15 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-03-09 1:09:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Or a quote from the western press but (other than the Wash Times, which does say so, but wont be considered credible to my target audience)

As long as you have your audience gridded. :o)

Posted by badanov 2005-03-09 1:32:18 PM|| [http://www.rkka.org] 2005-03-09 1:32:18 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 BBC Slide Show

Bleached Hair, Tight sweater and designer blue jeans...Looks like Iranian-Backed Hezbulla's kinda gal!!!

YES - This is the ppro-Syrian Demonstration-Please note Assad's Picture in the background...
And! This is picture #1 on BBC's slide show, we know how they are...Also note slide #2

Nope-No foreigners here. Schools closed and children bussed to the demonstration... Naah... Not a forced demonstration... How could that be?

Posted by BigEd 2005-03-09 1:33:08 PM|| 2005-03-09 1:33:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Chi Tribune Source for Below

Where other protests have been a showcase for Beirut's appetite for Western fashion, this crowd was replete with women in traditional headscarves, overwhelmingly drawn from the 1.2 million Lebanese Shiites who make up a plurality of the country's 4 million people.

Compared with the caption by the BBC for the above photo...

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, for a rally backing Syria's role in the country.

Again I can see the "traditional dress" of the gal riding on the fellow's shoulders...which is also against Islamic rules...

Posted by BigEd 2005-03-09 1:48:53 PM|| 2005-03-09 1:48:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 liberalhawk...

Show your friends the BBC and Chi Tribune inconsistency in reporting... That might help...

Posted by BigEd 2005-03-09 1:49:49 PM|| 2005-03-09 1:49:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 Why bother with them, then? They've already decided to reject evidence that doesn't suit their prejudices

Its like water melting a rock, but it does happen. I managed to get one member of the French Communist party to accept that Ariel Sharon is basically a pragmatist (although said Frenchman is half Jewish by birth, and so may have been an easier target than some)

BTW if you really think that anyone who rejects the credibility of the Wash Times is too far gone to be worth it, well .....

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-03-09 2:02:37 PM|| 2005-03-09 2:02:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 big ed - its at least conceivable that parts of the rally were mainly shrouded Shiites, while others were non-Shiites, or at least non-fundies. Doesnt prove the modern dress people were Syrian,and if they were how many.

Lebanon Daily Star says there were some Syrians, but most were Lebanese. Thats the best ive been able to find.

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-03-09 2:13:09 PM|| 2005-03-09 2:13:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 BTW if you really think that anyone who rejects the credibility of the Wash Times is too far gone to be worth it, well .....

If their sole basis for the rejection is the source, yes, they are too far gone. If the NYT reports something that fits the pattern of events, then I'll trust their reporting unless and until contradictory information comes along; I don't disbelieve simply because it comes from the Paper of Distort.

Also, I submit that someone who needs to be convinced that dictators stage demonstrations is also probably too far around the bend to be salvagable.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-03-09 2:28:23 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-03-09 2:28:23 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Er, sorry, RC. I read and enjoy the Wash Times, but I really can see why someone would discount their articles, the way I discount articles from say, Robin Wright or Dana Milbank at the WaPo.

as for dictators and demos, the fact that dictators stage demos doesnt show that that every demo favorable to a dictator was staged by them (answer demos in DC, as a case in point) Heck its not even a question of it being staged - that Hezb bussed in thousands of Lebanese Shiites is beyond doubt - whats at issue is the presence of SYRIANS.

Mind you I think there WERE plenty of Syrians there - but i understand the standards of evidence i need in a place that isnt an ideological hothouse.

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-03-09 2:34:40 PM|| 2005-03-09 2:34:40 PM|| Front Page Top

#18 Sure, LH, sure. I'm sure that fellow has "higher standards of evidence". That must be it.

Just keep telling yourself that. There's even a slim chance it's true.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-03-09 2:46:42 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-03-09 2:46:42 PM|| Front Page Top

#19 RC - i take it you dont have any cites in any Lebanese papers, then?

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-03-09 3:35:06 PM|| 2005-03-09 3:35:06 PM|| Front Page Top

#20 No -- but even if you found one, whats to stop the person you're trying to convince from saying "Oh, well, those are the LEBANESE papers" and dismissing them?

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-03-09 3:44:25 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-03-09 3:44:25 PM|| Front Page Top

#21 Cox & Forkum's take on the festivities.

Posted by eLarson 2005-03-09 4:03:36 PM|| [http://larsonian.blogspot.com] 2005-03-09 4:03:36 PM|| Front Page Top

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