snapped shot

In a rare move, the AP has sent a combination photograph across the wires comparing a before and after scene. (You'd think that someone over there reads these pages!)

Unfortunately, if we go by the information in the photograph alone, we'd be missing quite a bit of information. The caption merely reads, a building is seen standing, top..., and, bottom, is seen destroyed... after 34-days of the Israeli offensive. While information like this is useful, and is certainly more detailed than the wires have tended to be in the past, it would be more helpful if the photographer chose to include ancillary information about why buildings like that are targeted.

In another photograph, we see a man who is salvaging belongings from his bombed-out apartment. What makes this particular photograph so curious, is that he's doing so on a ledge that's at least 15 stories high! Is there any logical reason to do this, other than for the photographer to have a dramatic backdrop of rubble to his shot? We're not provided any contextual information to go with this photograph, other than the fact that his apartment was damaged during the "recent conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbullah."
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This post is no longer being updated. Please refer to The latest on the Funny Money Scandal for, well, the latest updates.

Now that Hezbullah has suddenly morphed into a philanthropic organization, we learn from this photograph that they are distributing approximately US$12,000 to the needy in areas destroyed by Israel. Of course, what is our intrepid photographer obviously not curious enough to know? Well, that Hezbullah has already been dinged for counterfeiting U.S. currency:

One of the most prominent and influential members of the Hizballah terrorist organization, along with two of his companies, was designated by the Treasury Department today under Executive Order 13224. Assad Ahmad Barakat has close ties with Hizballah leadership and has worked closely with numerous Islamic extremists and suspected Hizballah associates in South America's tri-border area (TBA), made up of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. . . .

Barakat has also been involved in a counterfeiting ring that distributes fake U.S. dollars and generates cash to fund Hizballah operations. As of early 2001, Barakat was one of two individuals reportedly in charge of distribution and sale of the counterfeit currency in the TBA.

Once again, it's left to the Blogosphere to ask the questions the media isn't interested in asking.

UPDATE 11:59 EST: I'm collecting all of the images connected with this story in this article. Click the Read More link below for a fun look at the world's newest charity.

UPDATE 13:30 EST: The hilarity continues. Apparently, we've been blessed to have the Hezbullah Engineering Company on-site, ready to fix all of those Zionist craters. Praise be to Allah, the Zionists will surely not stand up to the dreaded Hezbullah engineer! (As usual, check out the extended article for pictures)

UPDATE 19-AUG-2006 10:56 EST: Added wire photos from 19-Aug.

UPDATE 11:41 EST: It would appear that MechEng from Newsbusters has caught something in one of the photographs posted: The $100 bills shown here ought to have a security thread running roughly near the U.S. Treasury seal on the obverse (front) of the bill, yet in a silhouetted photograph of one of the bills being counted, we do not see this thread. While we can't be 100% certain, it is definitely increasingly likely that these bills are fake, and as a result, the press is possibly aiding and abetting the distribution of counterfeit currency.

UPDATE 21:10 EST: Wow! I've gotten an unprecedented reaction to this story! Thanks to everyone who's written! I want to take a moment to highlight some of the most poignant observations made by you, here:

Jim Hunter 2006-08-19 19:31

In photographs #17 and #18 the seal is in a different position relative to the numbers 1 0 0.

Wessoman 2006-08-19 15:10

I don't know about you guys, but I'm holding a new hundred right now. The US treasury has never made the new design 100 dollar bill without the strip. Considering the light passing through the bill in that photo, you would readily be able to see the strip. Those bills are about as real as Monopoly money and those victims (real or not) are either being duped or going along with one.

Wino 2006-08-19 16:47

Can I ask and answer some questions?
Who deals in American currency in Lebanon? Ans: No one
What is anyone going to buy with the money? Ans: Nothing
Why are they handing out the bills? Ans: Fauxto Op
Why is the press so willingly following along with this? Ans: They are cheering for the Hesbians.

tompain 2006-08-19 18:29

The photo by Hussein Malla (caption: "A Lebanese resident of a Beirut suburb ...") that might also indicate a missing security thread seems to me to reveal a more obvious flaw. The image of the federal reserve seal showing through the bill seems offset to the right. The outer circle of the seal should intersect with the branches of the tree in the rightmost part of the image of Independence Hall. On this bill, they barely touch.

DocMartyn 2006-08-19 18:47

A personal opinion. I moved to the USA from the UK two years ago. As I do not trust banks to move money from one country to another, I took just unser $7,000 dollars in cash.
I ordered my US dollars in advance and took them to America with me. I handled a loot of $100 dollor bills. That is my level of expertese. O.K. my view. These are too flat. The paper in fresh US $100 bills is a little more "Fluffy", it is not hard and stiff like these people are holding. It has texture, it is not flat and smooth. It is more like cloth than paper. Secondly, it is a bit more static. Bills tend to stick togeather. It makes it hard to count as is easy to count two bills togeather. The bundle in picture 11 looks very wrong. The whole stack of bills looks flat, whereas I found that the bills form a concave shape, like there is surface tension, the middle of the pile is more attracted to its partners than the edges are, and so the edges are puffed up. Again, these bills are flat, almost like a block of wood with a bill stook on top.

My deepest regards and thanks to all of you who've contributed to this story!

UPDATE 20-AUG-2006 19:05 EST: Ali Bubba has pointed out that Bill Gertz wrote an article about the North Korean "superbill" in 2004. While it's possible that Hezbullah obtained notes from North Korea, it should be noted that Iran already has all of the equipment necessary to make their own.

Thomas and Marcie write via e-mail that, not only should a portion of the security strip be visible towards the top of the bill in Photo #9, but that in Photo #15, the green color is brighter than a bill would normally be at that angle. Furthermore, on the backs of the bills, the semi-circle appears too green.

UPDATE 21-AUG-2006 09:12 EST: It would appear that the World's Newest Charity has started in its quest to conquer the Salvation Army.

UPDATE 13:27 EST: Blogger TomPain has written the most astute synopsis of this story that I've found so far, illustrated with a $100 note from his personal treasure. Many thanks for the very detailed analysis, Tom!

Related stories: Allahpundit, LGF, Disturbingly Yellow, FreeAlabamastan, Euphoric Reality, Backspin, Say Anything, Edgar's Musings, The Western Seminarian, DogfightatBankstown

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In this first photo, we're told that a Lebanese boy is covering his face to protect himself from the smoke of a burning building. However, given the context of the second photo, I think it's more likely that he's connected to Hezbullah and does not want to be photographed. Notice how there are other "youths" in the photograph, who are not covering their face. Perhaps this is because only the one in front noticed the camera? Our photographer definitely doesn't provide any details, so we're left to guess on our own. Also, based on the photograph of the deceased militant on the right, it would appear that our "youth" on the left is well within the age of service to Hezbullah.

Once again, this illustrates the danger of fighting an enemy that wears no uniform.

Caption for the left photo:

A Lebanese boy covers his face to protect himself from the smoke of a burning building in the background as he looks down the street at several destroyed high-rise apartment buildings of his neighborhood in the Hezbollah's security perimeter in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006. On the second day of a United Nations ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah, thousands of residents continued to return to find out if their homes were destroyed. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

And for the right photo:

A Lebanese mourns reacts while holding a picture of Hezbollah militant Imad al-Hajj Ali during the funeral procession of al-Hajj Ali and Abd al-Raouf Nassar, in the market town of Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006. Al-Hajj Ali and al-Raouf Nassar died in the conflict with the Israeli forces in Lebanon. Hezbollah said 68 of its fighters were killed in battle, but Israel said its forces killed nearly 500 of the guerrillas. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Note that these "Lebanese" people are actively wishing for "Palestine's" liberation. But what does "liberation" mean to a muslim? Saddam Hussein had some ideas:

On October 9, 2000, Iraq announced that it was establishing training bases for Arab volunteers to fight in the coming war with Israel. Later that day, Saddam Hussein gave a speech following an Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council and Ba'ath party conference, in which he said: "The conference made a number of resolutions to support the heroic Intifada and to provide the necessities of the Palestinian jihad warriors, so that they are able to continue their heroic jihad to liberate Palestine from the river to the sea...[additionally] in response to the call of the masses, it was decided to open camps for volunteers for the jihad to liberate Palestine, to complete their military training, and the Ministry of Defense was instructed to give priority to those who entered weapons-training courses."[3]

If you're not aware of the geography of the region, I'd like to point out that the area of Israel that stretches from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea, IS ISRAEL.

It's quite clear what these Islamic radicals want. And it's also clear that the media is doing their best to assist them!