Wittingly or unwittingly, at least two major U.S. news networks are conducting a major information operation in support of the Israel-Lebanon War.
All morning, MSNBC and CNN have been broadcasting footage of Israeli tanks and troops forming up on Lebanon’s southern border. (I haven’t been watching Fox, for all I know they’re doing the same thing.) On scene reporters and analysts are describing how engineering units are moving up, ostensibly to clear away any mine fields or other obstructions prior to the launch of an assault, raid or full scale invasion.
Under the fold: who’s side are they on?
A number of things could be going on here, none of which bode well for the post conflict analysis of the news networks’ ethical behavior.
It may be that the network is broadcasting these images and information without Israel’s knowledge or permission. If that’s the case, they are providing real time tactical intelligence on Israel’s movements and intentions to Hezbollah. But I think it highly unlikely that Israel hasn’t given the networks to make footage of its troop movements, or that the networks would know anything about deployment of engineers and other details that the Israeli’s haven’t told them.
I find it even less likely that the Israelis are dumb enough not to realize that their enemy is seeing and hearing everything broadcast on U.S. network television.
A more probable scenario is that the Israelis are using the networks as part of an overall psychological and/or deception operation. In that case, the networks have in effect made themselves a part of the Israeli Defense Force. And make no mistake, there’s a huge difference between reporting on operations that have already taken place and operations that are about to. The former is journalism. The latter is an essential element of modern war fighting.
It could be that the cable news giants are simply trying to report news, and don’t realize what they’re doing. But I find that a little hard to accept as well. I’m not familiar with CNN’s stable of military experts, but it is inconceivable to me that MSNBC’s Jack Jacobs, Rick Francona and the rest of them don’t understand the implications of what’s going on. Is anybody going to the senior producers and network executives and asking, “Hey, what are we doing here?”
I hope so, because at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will look back on this and notice that major U.S. media outlets picked a side in a war that America, in theory, is not a party to.
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Commander Jeff Huber, U.S. Navy (Retired) writes from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Read his commentaries at ePluribus Media and Pen and Sword.
the key here is “in theory”. But I don’t doubt that are just trading propaganda for access. The new imbeds.
but Americans are entranced by the new war on their television screens! There was a soldier on DailyKos over a year ago who wrote in a diary about the movie Blackhawk Down, he called it war porn. It was war dressed in such a way that people wanted to see it played out in front of them and they got an emotional jumpstart from watching it but not having to participate in it directly. I thought it was a fabulous way of looking at the movie Blackhawk Down and also the tanks flying across the desert when we went into Iraq. I consider what the networks are doing today to be making War Porn and the people watching it transfixed are War Porning.
Is there any serious questionas to whose side the US corporate media is on in this war?
From the mind-numbing repetition of Israel’s Orwellian language of “destroying the infrastructure of terror” (which we’ve mimed in Afghanistan & Iraq), to repeatedly broadcasting the Isaeli assertion (lie) that ‘this could be over right now if our soldiers were returned’ while never squaring or questioning that with the racist ‘cut out the cancer’ metaphor to “crush” Hezbollah, it’s nearly monolithic.
There is no doubt whatsoever that what the networks are airing has been fully cleared by Israeli censors, who already shut down al Jazeera (who was operating independently in northern Israel, relying on native Arab reporters.) Whatever footage we see is intended for one or more specific audiences — Israeli, Lebanese, &/or the world.
Yesterday I read that Col. Sima Vaknin, Israel’s chief military censor quoted in the Star Tribune, was bragging that:
The media, as someone here likes to say (sbj?) is a weapon — quite willing, all the while in public denial that it even has a problem.
“In theory?” That’s just another propaganda lie.
This is some pretty over the top stuff, though. Not “hearts and minds” strategic stuff, but direct tactical participation.
Scary.
Maybe it’s to instill fear on one side, nationalistic determination on the other?
I still find it impossible to believe that they wouldn’t be shut down (or more likely just comply with a request) if the Israeli military felt there was any danger to their troops from airing the footage.
Here’s the link to Israeli Censor Wielding Great Power.
More frightening in the InfoWars at the moment is the increasingly louder drumbeat on TV to “deal” with the Iranian problem.
I’m certain the Israelis are behind all of it. And I don’t blame them for being clever war fighters. I blame the US media for not thinking about what exactly they’re doing.
Do you think the US media isn’t really aware of exactly what they’re doing? of how they’re being used here? I guess I’m too cynical not to go there.
I do blame the Israeli & US military for conducting their infowars on us. But then, I blame the gov’ts that control them for conducting these wars to begin with.
At any rate, thanks for pointing out just how OFF this is for journalism; we become so used to these things they easily pass by unnoticed.
Tucker Carlson is on in the background, talking to the Lebanese Ambassador, expressing his amazement that the Lebanese Army might defend its border against an invasion . . .
time to put on some music!
But Jeff, you explicitly state yourself that you use your pen as a sword. Is it possible to yield a sword in a unbiased way? When you put yourself in a war situation you better know what you are for and what you are against. No room for objectivity there. Should CNN have somebody embedded with Hezbollah, in effect fighting their own crew on the Israeli side? It would certainly enliven our watching experience.
People understand this situation to a certain level and know that they are being fooled. PsyOps that are not recognized as such are far more dangerous and damaging. 9/11 comes to mind.
Everyone and their dog is trying to get in on the act. They are busting their balls to get there so they can have their face plastered across the tube. It is their day in the sun, so to speak. When the green zone is then placed, they will stay inside it and do their reporting for fear of loosing their lives…I see the day a coming…..I suppose we can call them dispatches from Lebanon
This is such a sad day for America for the words that come out of condies mouth is sheer hypocrisy. such a sad shame…..
…but didn’t see a spot on Fox where they were showing troops movements across a map, the kind of thing you do in the ops shack at headquarters.
Play war.
Man.
Ask me if I am surprised! go figure! PPl are dying and they just can’t help themselves from doing the real thing and telling everyone who what when and where. :o) Makes one wonder about being embedded, doesn’t it??!!