July 29, 2006: CBC provides ...

A platform for Hezbollah: Nahlah Ayed "interviewed" Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.

The National, July 28, 06:

Ayed did not interview in any journalistic sense; Ayed gave Lahoud a platform from which to spout. CBC dutifully presented the Hezbollah/Syrian point of view which is or may be shared by some or all Lebanese. I have met Christian Lebanese who wish Israel would help them to get rid of the Syrian/Hezbollah influence in Lebanon. Anyway, Lahoud claimed the Lebanese (Hezbollah?) had eliminated the Israeli occupation along the southern border in the past. Actually, Israel's previous pull-out from Lebanon was a unilateral decision by Israel. Ayed did not disput his position. As for Lahoud's statement that "he believed the UN strike was a deliberate attack", Ayed let that pass without question. Yet, there is some evidence that the UN was being used by Hezbollah.

Video of Hezbollah using civilian shields
ws.giyus.org/points/point?id=63

Hezbollah was using UN post as 'shield' -- posted July 28, 2006: Hezbollah & Civilians -&- More

The interview smacked of "And how do you feel about...?" ... The interviewer must be a product of the current Canadian education system where how you feel trumps the facts. Hezbollah was the instigator of the latest hostilities, not Israel.

Why does CBC not put online the complete interview with Nahlah Ayed's puff-ball questions (e.g. Does this make you angry -- or something along that line)? Ayed seemed to be there only as an attractive person to keep the Pres. talking and CBC filming. Does Quebec's pro-Arab point of view influence any of this?

Lebanese president gives full backing to Hezbollah Last Updated Sat, 29 Jul 2006 08:26:24 EDT, CBC News / The National
www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/07/28/lahoud-interview.html

Hezbollah and its fiery leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, have the complete backing of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. ["Fiery" has positive connotations whereas "mad" ... might be considered taking sides, too unbalanced a CBC perspective?]

In a wide-ranging interview with CBC's Nahlah Ayed [a bit rich, that description -- see above]

[....] Lahoud said he believed the UN strike was a deliberate attack, a response to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's plea two days earlier for Israel to exercise restraint.

The U.S. has dismissed Lahoud, 70, as little more than a puppet of Syria. He was elected to a six-year term as president in 1998; the Lebanese parliament extended it by three years under pressure from Syria. [....]

Left unsaid is that if the US said it, it must be wrong ... but those of us who watch the CBC spin know what is implied. It is always anti-US, anti-Pres. Bush.

This is pre-election, of course ... so