David Bernstein of the Volokh Conspiracy has kept a close eye on Juan Cole’s blog. That in itself is painful assignment, but in this case what he’s found deserves wide circulation.
Cole has charged Israel with purposefully targeting a funeral in Ghaziyah in southern Lebanon. In fact, he compares the Israelis to Iraq’s Baathists terrorists:
“The Israeli air force hit civilians at Ghaziyah in the south on Monday, killing 14. When the victims’ families and friends held a funeral procession on Tuesday, the Israelis hit them again, killing 6 more innocent civilians. (This terror tactic, where you kill people and then kill their funeral party later, as well, is commonly used by the Baathist insurgency in Iraq).”
Trouble is, as Bernstein argues, subsequent reports from Reuters show that bombs hit about half a kilometer from the funeral--that is, the funeral itself was not the target of any bombing campaign. Bernstein went on to send Cole two emails alerting him to this development in the story, but Cole has yet to withdraw his insidious charge, or to remove his language comparing the Israelis to Baathists.
Remember this the next time you see Cole quoted as a sage in the New York Times, or interviewed by Jim Lehrer.
