BBC journalist joins Israeli troops in Gaza

BBC video journalist Andrew Herbert is the first international journalist to enter Gaza since the Israeli offensive began.

It should be noted, however, that he is 'embedded' (in bed with?) the Givati infantry unit of the Israeli Defence Forces.

Rest assured that if there should be another attack on a school, or any repeats of Sabra-Shatila or Qana massacres, the IDF have helicopters ready to whisk him as far away as possible.

The whole idea of embedded journalists strikes me as Orwellian, they become little more than mouthpieces for the country that embeds them, and do no journalism other than on things that the country that embeds them wants them to. Isn't this a textbook definition of propaganda?

At least him joining IDF troops rather than any Palestinians saves us from the headline 'BBC journalist joins rocket firing, Hamas sympathising, baby eating, Islamic nutcases' or something equally balanced.

Bloody Right protests at the BBC's coverage of the Gaza massacre are spot on, I hope there are more.
Any TWAT who can casually observe hundreds of people being massacred is surely a CALLOUS OBSERVER !!!

I remember back after the bombing started (before the ground assault) the bias on all BBC news was astonishing. The BBC supporters (probably employees defending their employer) have got it wrong. Pretty much every report was about the threat Hamas posed.

Yes, things are different now and there is more balanced reporting, but this is since the ground invasion started and lets be honest, the BBC could not really continue in that direction of reporting without losing a lot of credibility with the general public.

Totally agree about BBC coverage in particular where again and again they report lies and propaganda straight from the Israeli war machine without any critical analysis of its veracity. Plus they do daily reports about someone's garden fence being knocked down by a crap rocket. Surely simple statistics should rate these rockets amongst the most ineffective weapons ever invented? Plus they dwell incessantly about the cheek of Palestinians daring to bring in puny weapons with which to defend themselves against their vicious occupiers as well as essential supplies denied to them by the illegal Israeli blockade but without ever questioning why Israel in the first place is given totally free reign to choose anything at all they want from uncle Sam's infinitely large weapons cupboard. It's great to see these anti BBC demos happening in the provinces but they really need to be taken to their London HQ at broadcasting house in Langham Place and the television centre in Wood Lane.

As for the placard, if we make wild claims that are later held up for ridicule then that could do more damage to our cause than not making any claims at all about Israel's lethal weaponry. Now I may have missed something but I've been trawling around for evidence of Depleted Uranium weapons
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium
 http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/
used in this present slaughter by Israel but can't find anything definite. There shouldn't really be any reason to use DU shells there since the Palestinians have no armoroued vehicles to pierce although the Israelis could use this as an opportunity to get rid of some of their surplus of DU. So until the area is safe enough for someone to check blast sites with proper radiation monitoring equipment then it may be wise to hold fire on any absolute claims about DU usage.

Likewise for absolute claims about cluster bombs
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_bomb
although Israel scattered these monstrous anti children weapons like confetti on Lebanon
 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/761781.html
I haven't found any definite reports on them in Gaza. Sadly if they have been used then it will probably be the poor Gazan kids who find them first.

As for the claims of phosphorous bombs or shells
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/01/417182.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_phosphorus
"These explosions are fantastic looking" etc
 http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/01/white-phosphorus-terror-weapon.html
Yes, 100% certain without a doubt as those white smoke plumes are just so distinctive. However it could be argued that in those photos, they are being used for their "legitimate" purpose - as smoke cover for their ground forces rather than aggressive weapons per se but then again in those photos, it looks touch and go as to whether those burning lumps will burn away before they hit the ground. Should those phosphorous lumps land on any Palestinians on the ground then they would be roasted horribly. Flaming phosphorous is impossible to put out , burns through to the bone and then goes on to poison the bones of the body. In the battle for Fallujah, US grunts fired such smoke shells directly at Iraqis with apalling consequences.
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/11/327486.html?c=on

There also looks to be fairly compelling evidence of DIME
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dense_Inert_Metal_Explosive
weapon usage. Instead of producing large chunks of shrapnel that can slice through civilians hundreds of metres away, DIME weapons use fine particles of tungsten as shrapnel and are supposed to only affect victims within a few metres. It's a bit like trying to throw a handful of sand a long distance compared to a stone. With sand you can't because for small particles, the air is relatively viscous and quickly slows the grains. However the injuries sustained from a DIME weapon exploding within range look very horrific as the victims have skin, flesh and limbs sheared away. Worse than that though is the longer term effects of having all those tungsten grains deeply embedded in the body where it seems to cause a fairly rapid onset of cancer.

Sorry for lengthy explanation but it's best to be properly informed and the way some people are speaking about these weapons implies that cluster, DU, DIME and phosphorous are all combined into one.