Another Ridiculous Headline
By Jim Lynch on Aug 9, 2006 in Israel, Ridiculous Headlines
This one makes the list because it only tells part of the story. And in this case, only telling part of the story changes the entire story.
U.S. directs criticism at Israel
The White House said Wednesday neither Israel nor Hezbollah should escalate their month-old war, as Israel decided to widen its ground invasion in southern Lebanon.
White House press secretary Tony Snow said the U.S. message was for both sides, though his remarks came after Israel’s Security Cabinet voted to expand the war effort in an attempt to deal further blows to Hezbollah.
“We are working hard now to bridge differences between the United States position and some of the positions of our allies,” Snow told reporters in Texas, where President Bush was vacationing. “We want an end to violence and we do not want escalations.”
The US is criticizing Israel! The US is criticizing Israel! That’s what you would think if you read the headline and the article.
It just so happens that I caught that part of the Snow press briefing. They kinda left part out. Here is the relevant part of the transcript from the White House web site:
Q Tony, you said the United States wants an end to violence and we do not want escalations.
MR. SNOW: That’s correct.
Q Is that a message to Israel, which today voted to widen its campaign in Lebanon?
MR. SNOW: It’s a message to all parties. If you’re going to have diplomacy in this situation, you have to make sure that you’re addressing the root causes of the problem, a power vacuum in southern Lebanon. You have to remember that Hezbollah started this with the firing of rockets. That, of course, followed on crossing over the Blue Line and kidnapping Israeli soldiers.
So the escalation is something that we do not want to see. But, also, you have to have a resolution that addresses the root cause of Hezbollah, has a practical solution to making sure that the Lebanese government will be able to have military and political control over the south so that the Israeli government then — and the Israeli government has expressed willingness to move out of Lebanon if those conditions are reached. So the question is whether the United States and its allies can bridge those gaps to return to the principles that have been agreed upon by the European community and others, both at the G8 and also in Rome.
Makes the story just a bit different, doesn’t it?
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