The Middle East War, The News Media & More

William Arkin at the Washington Post has a much needed corrective for all of the hypocritical natterers -- including too many people in the news media -- who are piling on Israel for the civilian deaths in Lebanon while Hezbollah rains hundreds of rockets on its blood enemy.

Like it's a war man. What do you expect when Hezbollah places its ammo dumps and rocket launching sites next to and sometimes atop civilian buildings?

Curiously, there is little comment on all of the Israeli deaths.

Says Arkin:

Everyone on the planet seems to agree 600 civilians deaths are too many in this two-week-long war.

The condemnation certainly suggests a step forward for humanity: The global community doesn't have much -- or sufficient -- stomach for war.

But there's another possibility. Perhaps the dominant view of the Lebanon war and expectations about war itself are clouded by innumerable subtexts -- anti-Israel, anti-American, anti-Bush, anti-air power -- that subtly influence news media reporting?

ISRAEL ADVANCES! STOCK MARKET SOARS!

Leave it to financial nabob Lawrence Kudlow to tell us that the war is good for the stock market. Is that the ends justifying the means, or what?

As Jonathan Chait notes at The New Republic:

Kudlow is not just some raving nut sitting in a windowless room. He writes about economics for National Review and hosts a talk show on CNBC. In other words, he's a raving nut who enjoys prestigious platforms to disseminate his views.

You can make up your own mind here.