Adnan Hajj and Reuters photo editors put in play the basic credibility of the major media when they published a Photoshopped image exaggerating damage from an Israeli warstrike. Photoshopping conclusively established that Reuters puts out propaganda. So the next question is obviously, "how much?" The blogopshere already had been deconstructing what appeared to be highly contrived photos from the Qana ruins when Photoshopping came to light. Things like pictures of a poor dead dust—covered baby with a sparkling clean pacifier around its neck raised suspicions. Adnan Hajj was there as part of the press gaggle.

The star of the Qana show was Mr. Green Helmet, who appeared to be staging shots. But mainstream apologists are not convinced, and still said "trust us." But the lid has been blown away, and open skepticism is in season. The Washington Times today sums up the current extent of the doubts.

Today, Sweetness & Light points us to a remarkable video that is smoking gun evidence that "Mr. Green Helmet" (of Qana's dead baby fame) is nothing but a Hezb'allah propaganda operative. GH was a central figure in the Qana pictures. Bloggers have argued they were staged. We see GH in the video acting as a director for the world media, setting up a piteous scene involving an unnecessary transfer of some human remains and driving them around for the cameras. He even has mastered the hand gesture to keep rolling. This guy is a pro.

Indisputably, this is staging before some members of the press corps. It does not require too great a leap to assume that GH behaved in a similar fashion when Qana 1.0 was presented to the world as a narrative of 57 civilian deaths, most of them women and children. Release 1.1 revised the deaths by half.

S&L brings you screen shots (with subtitles) for a quick overview, but the German language commentary on the video is terrific, via YouTube. The clip comes from a television show on Germany's NDR network called "ZAPP."  The narrator minces no words. Our media have been buying propaganda from Hezb'allah, and this video shows them lapping it up.

Thomas Lifson   8 10 06