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IbnRushd
09-08-06, 00:11
Coverage of War in the Middle East

Aired August 6, 2006 - 10:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HOWARD KURTZ, CNN ANCHOR, RELIABLE SOURCES: War and more war. As the Israeli/Lebanon conflict heads toward the second month, how long can it remain the dominant story here at home?
And should some journalists be blaming the Bush administration for the lack of a cease-fire? Plus the Pentagon reporter who says the Iraq war was a fiasco from the start.

Drunken tirade: Are the media treating Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic rant as mere entertainment? And will they forgive and forget if his next movie is a hit?

Also, a presidential farewell to the most famous and most disgusting press room in America.

Welcome to RELIABLE SOURCES, where today we'll turn our critical lens to what has become a familiar story line by now, more fighting in the Middle East. No end in sight. I'm Howard Kurtz.

We begin this morning in Kfar Giladi, Israel with CNN International Correspondent Matthew Chance on the scene where 10 Israelis were killed by Hezbollah rockets today.

Matthew Chance, this is one of the largest totals for a single barrage during this war. Is there a growing sense of fatigue or fear among Israelis that you have been talking to during these weeks of rocket attacks?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INT'L. CORRESPONDENT, RELIABLE SOURCES: Yes, Howard, I think there is certainly a growing sense of fatigue amongst Israelis because for the past 24 days or more we have been seeing these daily barrages of Katyusha rockets landing in towns and villages across northern Israel on a relentless basis, sometimes more than 200 a day.

What's interesting, what's different about this rocket that hit here in Kfar Giladi, which is very close to the Lebanese border, is that one of the rockets hit a large concentration of people that had gathered in this car park, right behind me, and exploded and killed 10 of them, according to the Israeli defense forces.

Because of the censorship laws that we've all agreed to abide by here in Israel, I'm not allowed to tell you the identities or the kinds of people these were, but certainly this is a kibbutz. And it's a kibbutz where a lot of Israeli soldiers were based in preparation to go in and out of Lebanon, Howard. KURTZ: Our viewers should understand that all reporters in Israel operate under these military restrictions.

The other big news this morning is Israel says it captured one of the Hezbollah guerillas involved in the original kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers that triggered this war.

Matthew Chance, will this make an iota of difference in the conflict?

CHANCE: Well, the Israelis hope that it will give them more information as to the status of these two soldiers that were abducted by Hezbollah on July the 12th. They haven't given us much details as to how and when this Hezbollah fighter was captured, but a few days ago, you may remember, there was a commando raid in northeast Lebanon in the ancient city of Baalbeck where Israelis raided a hospital. They captured at least five Hezbollah members and brought them back to Israel for interrogation.

So I think it's conceivable, although this is not confirmed, that this individual was one of those people. Apparently, under interrogation, he admitted to being part of that initial July 12th abduction of the two Israeli soldiers, Howard.

KURTZ: In the time that you've been in Israel, have you noticed increasing skepticism in the media coverage about the progress of the war since, obviously, this is has proven to be a more difficult and more painful slog than perhaps Israel had anticipated at the outset?

CHANCE: Yes, I think there has been a growing sense of frustration amongst Israelis because at the outset of this, 24 days ago, the impression you got from the Israeli military and the Israeli government is that this would be over in a first in a few days, then in a few weeks. But obviously, it's lasted a lot longer than that. And at this point there isn't any real end in sight, despite the negotiations underway at the United Nations Security Council.

So, there is a lot of frustration here that the most powerful military force in the region has been hitting Hezbollah with a great deal of explosives, with its air power, with it's artillery strikes with 10 to 12,000 ground troops, on the ground in southern Lebanon; yet even so, they're able to hurl these rockets still, into Israeli towns.

KURTZ: All right, Matthew Chance, stand by, thank you for that report. We will come back to you.

And joining us now here Washington Anne Compton who covers the White House for ABC News, and Thomas Ricks, Pentagon reporter for "The Washington Post" and author of the new book "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq."

Tom Ricks, you've covered a number of military conflicts, including Iraq, as I just mentioned. Is civilian casualties increasingly going to be a major media issue? In conflicts where you don't have two standing armies shooting at each other? THOMAS RICKS, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": I think it will be. But I think civilian casualties are also part of the battlefield play for both sides here. One of the things that is going on, according to some U.S. military analysts, is that Israel purposely has left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they're being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon.

KURTZ: Hold on, you're suggesting that Israel has deliberately allowed Hezbollah to retain some of it's fire power, essentially for PR purposes, because having Israeli civilians killed helps them in the public relations war here?

RICKS: Yes, that's what military analysts have told me.

KURTZ: That's an extraordinary testament to the notion that having people on your own side killed actually works to your benefit in that nobody wants to see your own citizens killed but it works to your benefit in terms of the battle of perceptions here.

RICKS: Exactly. It helps you with the moral high ground problem, because you know your operations in Lebanon are going to be killing civilians as well.

KURTZ: All right. Also joining us from Tyre, Lebanon, Richard Engel, Middle East bureau chief for NBC News.

Richard, thank you for joining us. We are glad to have our satellite connection with you.



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IbnRushd
09-08-06, 00:13
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Bron: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0608/06/rs.01.html