THE US REPORT

In February, I did a followup article about a US journalist who tried to warn the world about Hezbollah’s strength and activities in Lebanon after he'd visited the country.  In late 2007 well-known journalist W. Thomas Smith, Jr. experienced savage attacks by some media because of his reportage from that trip. I clearly remember a single sentence without having to look it up. Smith (photo at right) blogged these words at National Review online: “Hezbollah is rehearsing for something big here.” Online media learned of that statement and others by Smith. Shortly thereafter, loosely organized networks converged—media and other online personalities who knew each other, online editors, hobby commenters at political blogs—and Smith was attacked. But experts on terrorism and the Middle East, like Walid Phares, Tom Harb, John Hajjar and others knew Smith's statements were factual. I wrote about this several times.  I think I was more upset about it than Smith was.

Since that time, Smith’s assessments based on observation and intelligence from solid sources have proved accurate.  Time and again. And not a single media outlet like The New Republic,  CNN and a whole slew of bloggers no one ever heard of has corrected their accusations about Smith’s claims being unfounded. Even some conservatives jumped into the fray.  It’s useful to point out most of these pundit-driven sites and publications never questioned Smith directly, choosing to believe selected sources who of course disagreed with Smith about Hezbollah’s threat.

As an example The Huffington Post quoted a blogger who alleged that Smith’s accounts, including the “presence of 200 armed Hezbollah fighters in downtown Beirut laying siege to the prime minister’s office….is all insane.” Not only was Smith misquoted—he had actually written the Hezbollah fighters were POSITIONED. Smith never used the words “laying siege.”

There’s a telling article, “How Lebanon Was Lost,” in today’s Jerusalem Post. Caroline Glick writes, “Hizbullah's successful overthrow of the pro-democracy forces in Lebanon this past week was eminently foreseeable.” There’s an equally telling article, “A Way Out For Lebanon,” in today’s Tehran Times. Hassan Hanizadeh writes, “Sadr City, Gaza, and Beirut are strategically interconnected because the security of the Zionist regime and the United States directly depends on these three places.”

In an article posted today at Human Events, “Hizballah Terrorists Strike, Hold, and Pullback in Lebanon," W. Thomas Smith, Jr., writes again about the country he visited, quoting someone who certainly knows the territory: “Lebanon is the center of gravity for democracy in the Middle East,” says Tom Harb, secretary general of the International Committee for UN Security Council Resolution 1559. “Hizballah in Lebanon is rapidly becoming like the Taliban in Afghanistan, and if the West does not intervene now and put a stop to this, it will become too costly to do so in the future.”

That Smith's reportage has proven true comes as little comfort. I know W. Thomas Smith, Jr.’s work as a journalist. I know him as a friend.  And I knew he would not write something unless he knew it to be true.  For me, it was that simple.

(--Filed by Kay B. Day; please note variations exist in spellings for Hizballah and depend upon each media organization's style guide choices.)