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From: Dan G.

Subject: Why does the media fall for these fraudulent stories? I think I know.

Robert Fisk apparently pondered aloud whether the "pious" (or a word to that effect - I forget which) didn't deliberately aim at the centre of the cross: I think that's vital; substitute the word "Jew" (obviously - what other pious folk fly IAF machines?).

The centre of the cross is a reference to the crucifixion and very similar to Arafat's Norma Desmond imitation in front of the Church of the Nativity when it and its priests were taken hostage by Palestinians. All of a sudden, the Israelis waiting to arrest the perps inside were holding the church hostage: a complete perversion of reality. How did that reversal happen? "Look!" cried Arafat, "they're crucifying him again!" or words to that effect. And the media bought that too.

Arab propagandists are pretty bad at manufacturing this crap but they don't have to be good: the underlying notion of Jews as the killers of the innocent Jesus has extended through the millenia to this day -- this is the same blood libel the foreign minister of Syria wrote about: the Jews using Muslim innocents' (or Christian children in Christian Europe) blood to make their matzohs for the Passover. Jesus was, of course, killed on Passover.

Well, you asked why the journalists were so easily duped and that's my opinion. The fact that the West is mostly secular does not fisk this. Just the opposite. The culture is made of stuff which, abjured, does not disappear but burrows deeper into the unconscious. These reactions really are way below the level of conscious thought.



From: A. Hamilton

I am an American Firefighter/Paramedic. There are several cuts in the roof, as well as the "square" holes, they are VERY similar to damage done by striking a vehicle with a fire axe; the cuts (both depth and the way in which they open) as well as the square holes (which really made me sit up and notice) are exactly the damage done by the "pick" end of the fire axe.

Additionally, the roofs of both ambulances are caved in in a similar fashion, as if someone stood on the roof and swung an axe or sledge hammer. Both vehicles show little damage or "cave in" in the driver/passenger area, which is created as a safety cage for rollover. I used the exact same ambulance as a combat medic for the UN during the Bosnian war. They are very lightly constructed, and would not do well with anyone standing upon them.

If you look at the way in which the damage was done, and think about the average length of a hand tool handle, you can pretty much trace the damage back to an individual standing on the roof and swinging a heavy tool. Especially in the image I took from your website -- the square hole from a pick head axe -- the angle appears to be inline with a tool strike from on top of the vehicle.

I have 20 years as a firefighter/paramedic, we tear apart vehicles all the time for training, we do practice using axes and other impact tools should our hydraulic tools fail. Give me a month or so and I can provide photos that will exactly match the "damage" to the ambulance.



From: Michael S.

I have a few details to contribute, which will support/ confirm some of your suspicions. They pertain to the physical/mechanical condition of the ambulance.

I am an expert (by former vocation as well as avocation) concerning the Volkswagen vans that appear in your essay's photos. In the first place, the vans that appear are from the years 1979 through 1991, and were manufactured either in (West) Germany or South Africa. These vehicles were sold on every continent and in just about every country on earth. The vans in question are both of the air-cooled engine vintage ('79-'83) as well as of the water-cooled ('84-'91). The difference is indicated by the size of the lower grille (just above the bumper) on the front of the vans. The air-cooled vans had a much narrower grille. As such, there is a significant difference between the damaged van in question and the pair of vans that appear elsewhere in your article. The damaged van is one of the older, air-cooled engine variety. These vehicles had a much shorter service life compared to their more modern, water-cooled siblings. What I am suggesting, and global experience clearly indicates, is that the van in question probably had an engine failure and had been relegated to a salvage yard. But, there is some additional evidence to support this position.

Whenever a vehicle is committed to a salvage yard, it is frequently the practice (found globally) to stack the vehicles on top of one another. This is done to save space. The condition of this vehicle's top is entirely consistent with this practice. In the alternative, if this vehicle's top had been pierced by any sort of projectile, the entry hole would exhibit a uniform concaving of the surrounding area. Anyone familiar with battleground damage is familiar with this. But, this van's top is not consistently dented in the area surrounding the hole, but is also dented in an irregular and inconsistent fashion throughout its length. Additionally, and as your photos show, some of the rust spots give further evidence. Specifically, some of the rust spots are not just just spots. They are also cuts in the metal. These cuts are entirely consistent with being caused by another vehicle's undercarriage in the process of being moved around by a large forklift in the stacking/ unstacking process. I've seen it literally thousands of times, and this vehicle's cuts are distributed widely.

Finally, while it is not uncommon for an explosion to blow the door(s) (literally) off of a vehicle, this vehicles's side door shows clear evidence of having been removed mechanically. I can tell, as all of the van's door hardware is missing (track, rollers, latches, internal door components, etc.) This stuff is pretty commonly scavenged first, once a van makes it into the salvage yard. The fact that this van's hardware is all missing merely confirms the same pattern.



Excellent piece of investigative journalism. Worthy of what we all USED to think of when we heard that term.

Your arguments and evidence are right on the mark, every time.

There is no doubt left in my mind about what happened, or didn't happen. This was a complete, 100% staged event. Anyone with half a brain can see that just by looking at the photos of the ambulance. That vehicle was NOT struck by a missile, it wasn't raked with gun or even cannon fire.

Is there ANY doubt that it was deliberately 'dressed up' in a childish attempt to make it SEEM like it had been attacked?

The thing that totally astounds me is that this was picked up by the sympathetic (and pathetic) world-wide news organizations and distributed. Not only does this show a CLEAR bias on their part (which we all know already) but it underlines their complete bankruptcy in regards to searching for and telling the truth.

Why is there NO OUTRAGE from the people of this country over this? We should be in the streets demanding that these news organizations retract/apologize and take responsibility for these actions, or close their doors. It's that simple.

They have broken whatever trust they had with the 'people' and have become nothing more than an anti-Israel propaganda agent.

Thanks again for your invaluable services on this one.

-- Alan C.



From: Jonathan L.

Here's my theory as to how the damage actually occurred, for what it's worth:

The ambulance is parked next to a multi-storey building. An explosive round (tank/artillery shell, anti-tank missile, etc) hits the building on the second or third floor. Shrapnel lacerates the roof of the ambulance in an irregular pattern. Falling debris from the building wall bends the ambulance roof out of shape, and one block hits the front windshield, which caves inwards. The vent in the middle of the cross is damaged, and subsequently removed. There is no fire damage. The tires remain intact. There are no bloodstains. The vehicle's frame is undamaged.

As for the rest, it's like you said -- tow to a salvage yard, rust for half a year, get recycled for a few minutes of glory.



From: A. Ghilmeini

If you look at the roof indentation, it seems that the van was rolled over and the dome or whatever was in the center of the cross pushed in the roof to the depth of the metal of the dome able to support the weight of the van.

Look closely at the mounting holes that held the dome in place.

See how the bolt holes that held the dome are torn away? The only way to explain that is the weight of the van crushed the dome through its mounting shearing the metal mountings holding it. Like all things machined, there are five visible mountings in close up of the hole. All five are sheared, the force that pushed down the roof pushed the dome through the hole tearing the mount holes much like holding a loose-leaf binder and pushing on the middle of a sheet of paper -- the weaker paper tears from the force of the push.

The photo showing the roof from another angle and shows the only mount hole not observable in the close up shows the same shearing.

Case closed!



From: Tehila (Israel)

Many thanks for all your work, it is excellent. I must admit I was taken in by this item of MSM news on that day. As an Israeli it was really disturbing.

The main culprits here are the Red Cross, although the media were clearly either duped or complicit. But when will the Red Cross be made to respond to your careful inquiry? This is truly bad news for the Red Cross and especially for their reputation of impartiality.

This is great investigative work!



From: Alain B.

I just want to express my uttermost thanks for proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the MSM have an anti-Israel agenda. What troubles me is that so few people really care to know whether or not they are being told the truth.

Anyways, whether you are a "wingnut," a "moonbat" or a "zombie" is irrelevant -- just as long as you stay a TRUTHSEEKER. I Love You, Man!!!



Excellent work, you deserve all the credit due to you for further exposing the insane complicity of the media (including the fools at the Austin American-Statesman) in the battle against Islamo-fascism. Bravo.

Christopher B.



From: Ray A. (Israel)

Thank you for your dedication to the truth. Thank you for all the time and effort you have put into this. As an Israeli and reading all the stories about what had been done to the people of Lebanon in my name I was in despair.

I asked all my friends who serve in infantry units and in the IAF exactly what they are told to do, expecting to hear whispered 'just between us' stories of ill-done deeds and villainy. Nothing of the sort, I was assured. When I offered them my theory of evil being done on purpose, though in secret, I was asked over and over again what I thought we would have gained from such behaviour. But then the problem remained of how these things happened.

Your explanations clear things up. Thank you.



From: Nathan H.

Oh, don't worry. The Israelis killed many, many civilians, destroyed the beautiful country of Lebanon, and caused misery and suffering of millions. Oh, and children. Yes, Israelis killed and maimed many, many Lebanonese children. There used to be a few Lebanonese people who supported Israel. Now, there are none. The Star of David has become an international symbol of Jewish violence and Jewish hate. Hitler could not do what Zionists have succeeded in doing.



From: Kurt

I would like to add to your analysis the subject of the "shrapnel" holes in the roof, which are the clearest in the Globe photo. Shrapnel, which comes from the shearing of metal from an explosion is generally irregular in shape. In the photo, most of the holes in the roof are obviously circular which is more likely to have been made by bullets. Also, there is the size of the holes. Most look like they were made by small arms fire and some are larger which look like they were made by heavy weapons (Russian 23mm Anti-aircraft?). In all cases, though the metal around the holes is deformed inward which means these were made from the outside.

Not only that, but the deformation looks like whatever pierced the metal came at it from a nearly perpendicular angle. To have holes like that in a roof meant that, if an aircraft fired at it, it would have had to shoot straight down. That would be ridiculous since the pilot would not be able to see what he is firing at.

Besides the obvious rust, the deformation of the metal shows that whatever made the holes hit the metal at an oblique angle, from different directions!

There are holes that are surrounded by rust and other holes where the metal is still fresh. The only logical conclusion would be that some were made sometime in the past and some were made recently. Here is what I think is a reasonable scenario:

Someone remembered a ambulance that had been junked some time ago. While it was sitting around, probably on its side, it was used as target practice (or boredom relief) by local Hizbollah, much like how rural teenagers use traffic signs for target practice in the US. This prop would be perfect to demonize the Israelis in the western media. Some more holes were shot in the roof to "spice" it up. A "atrocity" was made up about how an ambulance got attacked by uncaring/hostile Israelis. Dress up some victims in bandages, add a few real casualties from elsewhere and give al-Reuters a call. The western media comes and buys into it hook, line, and sinker.

Based on the work of dedicated people like yourself, I've come to view skeptically anything that comes out of the Hizbollah side of this. (A shout-out to Little Green Footballs, EUReferendum and others) The fact that the MSM has decided to circle the wagons instead of coming to grips with how they are being manipulated is the real scandal of all this. It goes to show that the best lies are the ones, in our heart of hearts, that we really want to believe.



From: cram

Fantastic job putting together the facts about this incident. Very well done. It's truly important that you and independent, intelligent people who care about truth make the effort to uncover this type of fraud. People like you are becoming one of the only defenses against the brainwashing of the world by news organizations with agendas. I only wish it would get the exposure it deserves.



From: Florian K. (Germany)

About the ambulance fraud, I have an explanation that could fit the vehicle evidence and part of the explanations from the ambulance workers:

The Israeli missiles were targeted and hit near the ambulances, maybe the upper floors of a nearby building. Small debris from a nearby explosion could cause the inward bent holes in the roof and the destruction of the ventilation. It would fit the "explosion, fire, thrown through the air" account and also the injuries do not sound unlikely.

The ambulance workers might even have come to think, they were the target of the attack, if the real target -- e.g. Hisbollah fighters -- were hiding and left shortly before the attack. Their hatred for Israel would then have added a few bits and piece and the admiration they might receive for surviving an Israeli attack might have further strengthened them in their belief they have been the target.

Also as ambulances move about and do not tell the IDF, where they are going to, its not implausible that ambulances were near a target of the IDF, without knowledge of the IDF.

But this explanation would still not change anything about the big lie, as Israel's target in this case had not been the ambulance and the damage there would have been clearly unintended damage.



From: Mark K. (Ireland)

Its actually pretty disturbing how lazy and unprofessional many of the Western media have become. They failed to mention even once that Hizbollah's hundreds of rockets were intended to, and could have indiscriminately killed thousands, instead focusing on the fact that (due to pure luck, bomb shelters and the inherent inaccuracy of the Katyusha) very few Israelis were killed. Say each rocket hit one Israeli home or business. Assume at most one death and two injuries (very lucky folk...) Thats still several hundred intentional civilian deaths. But somehow the IDF, with some of the worlds best realtime intelligence and precison ordnance manages to kill dozens of children all the time. What are these children doing all alone in large buildings? Where are their teachers/parents/guardians? As always the big networks don't bother verifying incidents and simply look for 'headline' material. It is a business after all, and the truth isn't always profitable. (You also notice how they now use the word 'alleged' very cleverly to imply some sort of doubt about terrorist plots and incidents?) And any sort of criticism leads to them branding us healthily sceptical (or rational, level-headed) individuals as 'right-wing', 'Zionist', 'war-mongering' etc. Its a pathetic attempt to discredit scientific analysis and play upon popular misconceptions and stereotypes. Its pure hypocrisy, and the newest, most disturbing form of ultra-left wing, 'anti-everything' propaganda. Sometimes I think we are back in 1938 again. The West has been spoiled by its 60 years of 'peace' and forgotten that appeasement of radicals has only ever lead to utter disaster. Winston Churchill was often dismissed as a 'war-mongerer' because he had the courage to highlight the growing Nazi peril.



From: Michael W.

The alleged participants and eyewitnesses obviously are NOT familiar with military weapons or the damage they cause. The claims of mini-drones and such, frag effects that only hit armor, fireballs that don't burn the vehicle in toto, are even sillier than that portrayed on popular TV.

There are millions of veterans around the world who can see right through this stuff. Someone fabricating such a story competently would take that into account and use their experience to fabricate a believable story (I could do it). These stories aren't even as believable as those spun by wannabes in bars with their stories of being Special Forces or 'Nam vets, who eventually are exposed as utter fakes.

So Lebanon obviously isn't the free-fire zone they want to claim. If it was, the stories would have some passing acquaintance with actual combat effects. (Recall the Iraqi woman whose "house had been hit by two bullets" which she held up for the camera, said bullets being unfired and pristine in their brass cases?)

As to reporters--any time I've been interviewed or in a story, or seen a story about any subject I am professionally familiar with, they have a 100% record...of failure. Every single time (since age 7 personally, and as a military professional for 23 years observing various "reports") they got enough significant facts wrong to make the entire story questionable, if not obviously outright BS.

In my face-to-face encounters, it has been obvious that regarding sciences, math or any technical subject, my fourth grade daughter has a better education and more familiarity than the reporter.