Saturday, October 29, 2011

NYTimes Befuddling

Pay attention to the chronology in this NYT report by Fares Akram and Isabel Kershner:

Israeli Drone Strike Kills Militants in Southern Gaza

An Israeli drone strike killed five Palestinian militants at an Islamic Jihad training site in southern Gaza on Saturday, according to witnesses and the militant group, and Gaza militants fired salvos of rockets at southern Israel after Islamic Jihad pledged that it would respond forcefully to the Israeli airstrike.

Which came first? The rocket salvos by Islamic Jihad - or the Israeli drone strike?

Several rockets struck in and around the Israeli port city of Ashdod and one Israeli was lightly wounded, according to the Israeli police. Other rockets fell in open areas.

When did this happen? Before or after that drone attack above?

Earlier, the Israeli military said that it had hit a terrorist squad that was preparing to fire long-range rockets into Israel, and that the same squad had been responsible for firing a rocket that struck late Wednesday near Ashdod.

Wait, there was a terrorist (let's hear applause for the NYT for using that term) squad preparing to fire earlier? And what's that about Wednesday? Was Wednesday too far away from today's news? But is there a connection?

Wednesday’s rocket fire interrupted weeks of relative quiet along the Israel-Gaza border and set off incoming rocket alarms as far north as Rishon LeZion, a Tel Aviv suburb. That rocket fell in an open area and caused no casualties or damage.

Ah, so the start of all this violence was...an Arab initiative.

Finally we know what started this round.

Too bad the NYT couldn't inform its readers of that earlier in this piece.

In the next paragraph we are informed about a 'precipitation':-

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, has made efforts to enforce a cease-fire since the last round of cross-border airstrikes and rocket attacks in August that claimed casualties on both sides. The August confrontation was precipitated by a deadly attack north of Eilat in which eight Israelis died.

And what has happened to the Israeli presence in gaza since 2005?

Witnesses to Saturday’s strike said that an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a training site situated on sandy dunes in a former Jewish settlement near the city of Rafah.

Training site for agriculture? Naw, terror.

Was this a family affair?

Yes:

A spokesman for the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said Saturday that the dead were senior commanders of the organization. They included Ahmed al-Sheikh Khalil, a leader of one of the Islamic Jihad brigades. Mr. Khalil had four brothers who were activists in the movement; they were all killed in Israeli Army operations...

The family that kills together, dies together.

^

1 comment:

muebles lleida said...

So, I don't actually suppose this may have success.