Anatomy of a Staged Scene in Qana (Caution - Graphic Pic)

August 30th, 2006 7:59 PM

I was watching this video from Fox News' Greg Palkot (click on Video and select "Deadly Airstrike") reporting on the Qana incident when something caught my eye. I got a screen shot of the guy with the torn shirt getting UP from the stretcher to show that he was not "stretcher" material like they presented it when I noticed something in the corner of the video. Here's the screenshot...

Everyone is just kinda standing around. Mr. Checkered Shirt is talking on his cellphone. Not a lot of emotion despite the tragedy that has taken place. Even Mr. StretcherMan looks bored. But look at the top right hand corner. There is Mr. White TShirt putting little Zaynab with the pink shirt on display. There is no scene audio to the video - just Greg Palkot reporting.

As the video progresses you will see Mr. White TShirt snag everyone's attention. The photographers make a beeline for the Pulitizer Prize winning shot. A female press member almost trips over Mr. StretcherMan's stretcher. Let's see - semi-injured old guy versus cute little girl killed by Israelis. Not a hard choice for this crowd. Finally you will see that even the injured Mr. StretcherMan feels well enough to get up and look.

Make sure you take a look at that gaggle of photographers that surround White TShirt and little Zaynab. Like Bees to Honey...

THIS is the scene (at approx the 2:37 mark) the media treated the world to.

Notice that Mr. White Shirt with Glasses has picked up another child so he can get in on the action - 2 bodies are much better than 1. Lots of yelling and anger from the bystanders. Interesting to note that one of the loudest in the video is Mr. Checkered Shirt who at first kept on talking on his cellphone. Just like another media whore we've gotten to know over the years - he recognizes a prime propaganda opportunity and takes advantage of it. This all happened BEFORE Green Helmet and White TShirt's photo-op runs. Both of these girls were featured in those productions also.

So now we have a little more background on how these photos come into being. Just grab a photogenic dead child and start yelling. The media will run like scalded dogs to get the shot and have no problem as presenting it as a "real" moment.

Meanwhile, Alan Colmes is grilling Governor Barber about the President's photo-ops in Mississippi... Yeah that is so much more important than our media standing shoulder to shoulder with the terrorists and going right along with the game.