U.N. Post Hit in Israel-Hezbollah Fighting

A United Nations observation post on the Lebanon border was hit, either by IDF artillery or Hezbollah rockets.

Photo Lebanon Hospital Bed Ahmad Ali lies in a bed, with his legs amputated, as his wife reacts next to him, at a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 21, 2006, after Israeli warplanes targeted the southern village of Blida a few days ago, injuring all four of his children. Warplanes resumed strikes on targets across Lebanon on Friday as Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee the south 'immediately,' preparing for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone in southern Lebanon. (AP Photo)

A U.N.-run observation post near the border was struck during fighting between
Israel and Hezbollah militants on Friday, while Israel pushed ahead with airstrikes on Lebanon and warned people in the south to flee as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone. The Israeli army said Hezbollah rockets hit the U.N. post near Zarit, just inside Israel, but a U.N. officer said it was an artillery shell fired by the Israeli Defense Force. The facility was severely damaged, but nobody was injured as the Ghanian troops manning the post were inside bomb shelters at the time of the strike, the U.N. official said.

Fortunately, no one was injured. Such mishaps are, unfortunately, inevitable in war. There were many mishaps, for example, in the Kosovo campaign, including the shelling of the Chinese Embassy and rockets going off course and hitting Bulgaria.

I’m rather bemused that YahooNews chose the photo above to illustrate the story, both on the main page and on the story page itself. It gives those who simply scan the page the impression that injuries occured as a result of this when, in fact, they did not. The caption indicates that it is unrelated to the story:

Ahmad Ali lies in a bed, with his legs amputated, as his wife reacts next to him, at a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 21, 2006, after Israeli warplanes targeted the southern village of Blida a few days ago, injuring all four of his children. Warplanes resumed strikes on targets across Lebanon on Friday as Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee the south ‘immediately,’ preparing for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone in southern Lebanon. (AP Photo)

Why are they using a file photo of an Arab amputee from days ago for a story about Ghanian troops who were not injured?

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. LJD says:

    Fake but accurate, right?

    Bravo. Sierra.

  2. McGehee says:

    Why are they using a file photo of an Arab amputee from days ago for a story about Ghanian troops who were not injured?

    You and your rhetorical questions.

  3. Gronge says:

    Why are they using a file photo of an Arab amputee from days ago for a story about Ghanian troops who were not injured?

    Because they are LIBERAL terrorist-sympathizers. They probably voted for Kerry and love Jack Murtha! Scums!

  4. Zelsdorf Ragshaft III says:

    Because Yahoo news and AP stopped being journalist long ago.

  5. Bithead says:

    Point of order!!

    Zelsdorf; With all due respect;

    As I read my Funk and Wagnals,
    “Journalist” means someone who keeps a journal, and writes what he sees or thinks.

    “Newsman”, OTOH, means “A man who gathers, reports, or edits news”

    The problem here is that they stopped being journalists, but rather that they STARTED being so, rather than NEWS men.

    And that problem is hardly unique.

  6. Wayne says:

    Maybe they have seen too many Michael Moore movies.

  7. Ryan says:

    What about the purposeful bombing of Serbian television stations in Belgrade? NATO doesn’t even try to hide it. You have to be really naive to believe the bombing of embassies wasn’t on purpose, especially since we only use smartbombs, right! What about the bombing of Al-Jazeera by the US? Do you guys support attacking media outlets that don’t simply shutup and flag the American flag? Freedom of speech doesn’t apply to Arabs? These “accidental” bombings are no accident.