Pay no attention to the oppressor behind the curtain

This story tends to confirm what many of us suspected, that yesterdays pro-Syrian, Hezbollah rally was a coerced, orchestrated hoax. Here's former Lebanese Prime Minister Michel Aoun's assessment:

"This was not a Lebanese showing, and many of those who actually were Lebanese were not there because they support Syria. We know that at least three Palestinian camps were present. And there are 700,000 Syrian workers inside Lebanon, many of whom are not even supposed to be there. They were urged by Syria to attend so it looks like many Lebanese are protesting. Plus Syria bused in their own citizens from Syria through the border into Lebanon to join the rally."

Aoun goes on:

"They shut down the schools and all the government and public buildings and pressured students and workers to get to the rally...In all, it was a real multinational rally," joked Aoun. "Even watching protestors being interviewed, you hear they had Palestinian and Syrian accents. This was not the Lebanese people expressing their will."

Further evidence that this rally was orchestrated is the fact that the signs displayed were in English. Such signs as (the absurdly ironic) "No Foreign Interference" and (the comical) "Thank You Syria" were aimed squarely at influencing western news agencies rather than the Lebanese people. And, as evidenced by the USA Today article I linked yesterday, the media lapped it up.

So why would the MSM wish to perpetuate the obvious manipulations of those vehemently opposed to human rights? I suppose if it's Bush vs. Oppressors of Freedom, they must choose the lesser of two evils.