Quote:
Originally posted by Michael Cantor:
I'm skeptical as well. There's so much rumor and horseshit floating around on every side of every Middle East question that I think you really have to look at (a) the source, and (b) who else has picked this up.
And I haven't seen the story appear elsewhere. I'll wait for Sidney Hersh on this one as well, or at least another independent source.
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Ah....but if you "Google" the headline you will find that it was first reported back in July, 2006 here, in the Arab News.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=82860&d=28&m=7&y=2006&pi x=world.jpg&category=World
and here, on IslamicAwakening.com
http://www.islamicawakening.com/view...p?newsID=8120&
Apparently it took a few months for someone else to pick up the story....possibly because, as the author of the original article stated,
"there are no analysis laboratories in the poorly equipped hospital, and
he has no concrete proof only “suspicion” that the Israelis shelled something other than the usual tank and plane fodder."
I'm not sure that anyone else has any more compelling proof all these 3 months later, either. The time lapse in reprinting the story leads me to believe there is none.
As for The Guardian's reputation, I can't say. I am unfamiliar with the paper and the reporters. I've spent a good deal of time today reading various articles on Israel and Lebanon in the paper and I sense a definate slant against Isreal and the Jews but, to the paper's credit, it's a "feeling" more than anything else, and there is nothing I can find from which to pull quotes from to back-up my gut instincts.
Be that as it may, being female, occasionally irrational on the subject and "gutsy" I trust my feelings and I'll wait to read the story someplace else before I give it credence.
Just as an aside, I did find this:
http://www.islamic-world.net/wmprint.php?ArtID=8393 on the Islamic-World.net which states, in regard to the controversial, experimental and possibly non-existant DIME weapons:
The weapon is new and in the US it is still in the early stages of development. It has a carbon-fibre casing and contains fine tungsten particles rather than ordinary metal shrapnel. It causes a very powerful blast, but with a much more limited radius than other explosives.
However, the Israeli military denies the use of Dime weapons.
"The defence establishment is investing considerable effort to develop weaponry in order to minimise the risk of injury to innocent civilians. With regard to allegations of the use of Dime weaponry, the Israel defence forces deny the possession or use of such weapons," the military said in a statement. "Due to operational reasons, the IDF cannot specify the types and use of weapons in its possession. In addition it should be emphasised that the IDF only uses weapons in accordance with the international law."
Some Israeli military experts have also dismissed the suggestion that a Dime weapon is involved.
Isaac Ben-Israel, a professor at Tel Aviv University and a retired Israel air force general who was involved in weapons development, had seen some of the photographs of the dead and injured and said he believed that the wounds came from ordinary explosives. "I can tell you surely that no one in Israel ever developed such a Dime weapon. It doesn't exist at all," he said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which monitors weapons used in conflicts, said it had heard reports of similar injuries from Gaza and was collecting information on the case. "We haven't come to any sort of conclusion about what kind of weapon it was," said Bernard Barrett, an ICRC spokesman.
Lo
edited (several times) to fix #)*$#& links...and the first one just WON'T cooperate....it's the same article which is reprinted in the link beneath, however...apologies for being link-impaired
[This message has been edited by Lo (edited October 19, 2006).]