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November 13, 2006

Our Glorious Media

As I'm leafing through today's copy of the New York Times, what do I come across but a picture of a tank, labeled 'an Israeli tank in Lebanon.' 13israel.1902
But looking at the tank, I realize it's a T-55, an old Soviet-model tank, their first post-World War II model. And Israel doesn't use T-55s; it's tank forces are armed with Magahs (upgraded U.S. M60s) and Israeli-made Merkavas. So it's pretty unlikely that's an Israeli tank in the photo.

It's a minor point, I'll admit, and one that isn't going to be noticed by very many people. But it is a distinct reminder of the disconnect between the media and the military, that they make such basic mistakes about military equipment. Is it really so hard to do some basic research?

Posted at November 13, 2006 12:49 PM

Andrew Olmsted

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Comments

That is somewhat disturbing. Not because they got the tank wrong, I wouldn't be able to tell you that. But it troubles me from the perspective of bias against Israel. Either someone assumes it is one of those Israelis causing trouble to the peaceful people in Lebanon, or they just made it up.

Posted by: Chance [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 14, 2006 01:39 PM

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