Anne Barnard on Hizbullah: let the ignorance rip

For every article by Anne Barnard, who has not been trained in Middle East studies and knows none of its languages (she studied Russian in College but, hey, maybe her editors thought that Russian is spoken by Arabs), seems to require editorial meetings to decide whether to publish two or three corrections for errors and mistakes.  Let it begin: Notice that her reference to Hizbullah's involvement in Syria are all based on enemies of Hizbullah, i.e., rebels and..US and Israeli sources--KID YOU NOT:  "rebels say, they are leading it... On Tuesday, Syrian opposition activists reported that rebels had killed 15 Hezbollah fighters in Qusair....[Are you aware that rebels have not been able thus far to produce one dead or alive Hizbullah fighter--not that they are not involved in Syria of course]...Hezbollah is also helping train Syria’s pro-government militiamen into a more formal National Defense Force, Israeli and American officials say."  The last one is hilarious: so Israel and the US are the neutral experts on Hizbullah.  Let us continue.  Look how Barnard describes Israeli raids on Syria (do you think that she would dare give that label to Arab attacks on Israel?): "boldness of Sunday’s strikes...a series of spectacular airstrikes".   But Anne needs information about how Hizbullah members and ranks feel, and who does she consult on the matter? The Hariri hagiographer and the guy who has "interviewed" the Hariri murder suspects (he later recanted and claimed that he was not present in the room) and the guy who is widely mocked for regularly "interviewing" Hizbullah "fighter" and "commander" who basically reveal inside information to him:  "But Hezbollah may face pressure from its own ranks to respond, said Nicholas Blanford..."  But the worse part is this: since she know nothing about her subject and since she relies for all her information on the March14 Hariri propagandists, she gets basic facts wrong and unwittingly (I maintain) produces lies by the Hariri press office:  "Now, by comparison, it practically trumpets its presence."  In fact, Hizbullah is extremely not talkative about its role in Syria and has only downplayed that role and never ever trumpeted it.  In fact, all Hizbullah leaders and MPs are under strict instructions to not speak about Syria, one way or another.  Here, Anne Barnard does what she does often, fabricates:  "Funerals for the small but steady stream of Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria honor them as martyrs with all the pomp, circumstance and television coverage previously reserved for those who died fighting Israel."  There is absolutely no Television coverage for the funerals of a dozen of men in a period of months and whatever video coverage there is appears on...HARIRI TV from phone videos.  This New York Times Beirut bureau chief does not even know that March 8 coalition is NOT a parliamentary bloc and that it has parties and personalities that are not represented in parliament: "said Abdulrahim Mourad, a member of Hezbollah’s March 8 parliamentary coalition."  Ms. Barnard: Mr. Mourad is NOT a member of parliament.  And look how she justifies the indiscriminate shelling of a town in Ba`albak:  "Hezbollah-controlled town of Hermel..." What does she mean by "Hezbollah-controlled"?  The village in fact hosts parties that are opposed to Hizbullah as well.  But hey, she had to justify the shelling of schools and hospitals by rebels, the way she has justified consistently car bombs by rebel groups.  She then does what she does best, fabricates:  "That has only toughened Hezbollah’s conviction that the Syrian revolution threatens the Shiites..." Where on earth did any Hizbullah leader or member ever expressed this conviction that the Syrian revolution "threatens Shiites"?  In fact, Nasrallah among others argued that it threatens all groups in Syria and beyond.  Toward the very end of the article, she found it necessary to mention in passing that there are Sunni fighters in Syria.