Kofi Annan, the man who oversaw possibly the greatest heist in human history, has rushed to judgment of Israel, saying the Israelis “deliberately targeted” the UN outpost in South Lebanon where a couple of UN observers were killed. Needless to say Kofi provided no evidence that the Israelis did this or even any reason why they would want to do such a thing. Facts were never of particular interest to the Secretary General. Why should he start now? Thank whatever deity, we only have a few more months to endure of this dreadful man.

But speaking of facts, just who are those 300 plus innocent “civilians” the Israelis allegedly have killed during their war with Hezbollah? Has anyone in our media cared to investigate or are they just taking their “civilian” status at face value? So far it seems our media do, but perhaps there is more to the story. I attended a talk this evening by my friend Cliff May of the esteemed Foundation for the Defense of Democracy , also attended by several Christian Lebanese. They were quite outspoken during the question period about those “civilians,” implying that in their experience they were virtually all Hezbollah people or their allies, not innocent at all. Those Chrsitian Lebanese seemed quite knowledgable about the subject and the terrain – far more so than any of our MSM reporters. I took their cards and am going to try to get a hold of them tomorrow for a podcast with Pajamas Media/Politics Central. If our MSM doesn’t want to find out what’s happening, we’re just going to have to do it ourselves (and with original sources, not anonymous ones).

UPDATE: Claudia says it’s the UN that is “disproportionate.”

MORE: The Belmont Club (no surprise) has by far the best details on this in or outside the mainstream media.

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My third interview with Eugene of “Live from an Israeli Bunker” is up at Pajamas Politics Central. I have just gotten off the Skype phone with two interesting Lebanese Bloggers, Raja and Doha, both graduates of Johns Hopkins, getting their views on the situation. This podcast will be up in a few hours.

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Fifty percent of Americans now think Iraq had WMDs, up from thirty-six percent from last year. As more of the captured documents are translated, I would imagine this number should go up. Yet still we hear the battle cry soi-disant left: “No WMDs!” Don’t they read?

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MEMRI, which as a source of information on the Middle East dwarfs our entire mainstream media rolled into one and triple, scores an easy coup today by simply recording a transcript from Al Jazeera:

Interviewer: “Did you inform them [the Lebanese government] that you were about to abduct Israeli soldiers?”

Hassan Nasrallah: “Yes, and nobody said to me: ‘No, you are not allowed to abduct Israeli soldiers.’

Do we believe Nasrallah here? If so: Game. Set. Match. Either the Lebanese government had no control of Hezbollah or no interest in doing so or, perhaps most likely, both.

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For many reasons we know – Oil for Food, pathetic inaction on Darfur, the Durban Festival of Racism, “peacekeeping” sex scandals, persistent bias in favor of fascist states, etc., ad nauseum – the United Nations has fallen deeper and deeper into disrepute. Now – for those same reasons I imagine – Israel has indicated that if peacekeepers are to be installed on their Lebanese border, they must come from NATO, not the UN. Who can blame the Israelis? The last time UN troops were on their Lebanese border, they were all but accomplices to Hezbollah. If NATO does end up doing this job, it will be another – and especially withering – nail in the United Nations’ coffin, driving the organization further into irrelevance. Perhaps we should call the UN Kofi’s Koffin because – although others may have created the original conditions – he, more than anyone, allowed this to happen, a destroyer of dreams.

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Okay, let’s not be picky. Those boys deserve a break.

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For those of you who don’t know, things have been excruciatingly hot out here in Southern California lately with temperatures cresting at 119F in the balmier zones of the San Fernando Valley. The over-taxed power in my aging hipster Hollywood Hills neighborhood (replete with its old Spanish homes and smattering of celebs) has been out since yesterday and looks to stay out for a while, so I am writing this over at my friend David’s house above the Sunset Strip where the WiFi, if not the air conditioning, is functioning. But as Sheryl reminds me: “We should stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We’re not in Haifa.”

Indeed, she’s right. But it there’s one thing that helps you survive war and heat waves, it’s a sense of humor, so for your amusement I will provide this anecdote of my hood in extreme times. A couple of hours ago I returned home to see if the power was back (it wasn’t) and to pick up a few things. I turned the corner on my street, suddenly to be confronted by a woman with her hand up, indicating for me to stop my car. I noticed nearly a dozen other vehicles parked along the sidewalk. What? Was somebody actually having a party with no power, no air conditioning and temperatures in triple digits?!

Next thing I saw was a camera – well, a digital video camera. Someone was making a movie in the heat and it turned out it was one of my more celebrated neighbors – Ben Stiller (a rather friendly guy, on those rare occasions when he’s not on location and we see him) doing the shooting himself, videoing a van approaching from the next street. With no public electricity, he was obviously on a generator. Several other neighbors were standing around observing the proceedings, gossiping and laughing. In fact, it had the festive air of the Brooklyn block parties I remember from my childhood with everybody out on their stoops. The heat had done it.

Ben finished the take and the woman waved me on. I drove down the fifty yards or so to my house, got out and parked. I started talking with another (not famous) neighbor about the power outage and what he had learned from the DWP, when a Tour Bus to the Stars Homes (the over-sized vans that are ubiquitous in the Hollywood Hills) came cruising up the street toward us. The neighbor and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes. These tourists were in fat city – for once they were actually going to see a star in front of his house! I tried to catch their surprised faces as the van drove past me.

But just then, as if an alarm went off, everyone on the block scattered, including Ben. (They must have seen the van.) They were gone so fast, it was hard to tell where they went. By the time the van reached the Stillers, the street was back to normal – completely empty… And even more silent than usual because you couldn’t hear the incessant whir of the air conditioners. The bus lingered in front of Ben’s house for a moment, as they always do, before preceding on, its passengers completely oblivious.

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Dave Kopel has an important post at the Volokh Conspiracy, regarding UN complicity in the kidnapping of some Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah back in 2000. In this post Oil-for-Food world what rational person would not believe Kopel’s argument? This post obviously could not be more relevant to the current situation since at some point a solution has to be found. Maybe we should exchange Kofi for the kidnapped Israelis. He can spend the rest of his life trying to get his fancy suits dry-cleaned in a Palestinian refugee camp.

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It’s 6:40AM in Los Angeles and, addict that I am, I am already online chatting in IM with José Guardia in Barcelona, discussing our war coverage, when the Skype phone rings. It’s Eugene in Haifa. I click to respond, but there is no answer. I try calling him – nothing. So I try him in Skype text chat where he has left messages for me.

just tried to skype you.
7/22/06 6:58 AM
…
okay?

Again nothing. No response.

I go over to iChat and tell José what has has happened. We’re both worried. Has something gone wrong in the bunker – or worse? Then the message comes in from Haifa.

siren, I hit the button by mistake
7/22/06 7:00 AM
…
were fine, they keep missing

José and I are both hugely relieved. How post-modern, we think, all this trans-global communication. Of course, you can die in a post-modern war.

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All time unsolicited phone call (via PJ).

MEANWHILE: New Pajamas Media press release here. (Yes, it’s a “press release,” but we’re proud.)

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