Staged

Has the BBC admitted that it was engaging in staging photos for publication as Charles at LGF notes? It certainly seems that way when they themselves admit just that in their article from yesterday.

When Um Ali Mihdi returned to her home in the southern Lebanese city of Bint Jbeil two days ago, she found a 1,000lb (450kg) Israeli bomb lying unexploded in her living room.

The shell is huge, bigger than the young boy pushed forward to stand reluctantly next to it while we get our cameras out and record the scene for posterity.

The bomb came through the roof of the single-storey house and half-embedded itself into the floor, just missing the TV.

There is a hole in the roof with exactly the same profile as the shell itself, like when a cartoon character runs through a wall. The tailfin - complete with skull-and-crossbones marking - still lies on the roof next to the hole where it broke off.

This is just one of thousands of nasty surprises greeting those coming back to southern Lebanon after Israel's five-week war with the Hezbollah militant group.

USS Neverdock has the details.

Yesterday, I watched a CNN report about the problem of unexploded munitions in South Lebanon due to the intense fighting and that children were often casualties because they often found the munitions in their play. The reporters involved in this particular incident were not only incredibly stupid in admitting that they were staging photos for the sake of getting a story, but they were not only putting themselves in danger by playing with unexploded ordnance, but having children do the same all for the sake of a story.

Not only is this repulsive, but incredibly dangerous to all concerned. People returning to South Lebanon have to deal with the remnants of an active warzone, with unexploded munitions in all kinds of places, from rooftops to fields and everywhere in between. They have to worry about improvised munitions left behind by Hizbullah as well as Israeli munitions that did not explode. All are potentially lethal, and must be disposed of by experts.

Yet, this reporter and the accompanying photographer thought that they needed to sex up the story by having the young child stand near a bomb that the child appeared to know was quite dangerous.