Saturday, September 20, 2014

Failings and shortcomings of Western correspondents in Beirut

Yesterday, New TV aired footage of throngs chanting allegiance to ISIS in Tripoli, North Lebanon. Western reporters were describing the militias in Tripoli as "pro-Western" simply because they were part of March 14. They were, as ISIS belongs to the "pro-West" March 14 movement in Lebanon.  And as the ISIS and Nusrah (they now want us to forget that Nusrah is also Al-Qa`idah) built up their presence in Lebanon in `Irsal and other places, no Western correspondents bothered to report on that phenomenon. They were simply referring to the military presence in `Irsal as Syrian "refugees".  Notice how they write about `Irsal now without any background or explanation or apologies about omission in coverage.