Published 12 Dec 07

'Smith is a hero'

by Tom Harb

Secretary General of the International Lebanese Committee for UN Security Council Resolution 1559

Statement by W. Thomas Smith Jr. regarding the Lebanon Blog Posts The story behind the story

Former National Review Online reporter W. Thomas Smith Jr. is NOT a liar. On the contrary – and as we stated in American Mercenaries of Hezbollah – Smith is a hero.

The problem is, a hero in the West, is often a villain to the Jihadists operating in the Middle East, and Smith simply got too close to the latter during his recent trip to Lebanon. And now he is under fire by those who either do not understand the situation as it exists – and has existed for some time – in Lebanon. Or he is under attack by those newsmen and so-called newsmen who have been influenced either directly or indirectly by Iranian petrodollars.

We know who attacked: a handful of supposed Lebanon-based American journalists and their blogging allies who have irresponsibly accused Smith of fabricating stories about the reality of Hezbollah. Though in their accusations, they themselves have fabricated that which they accuse Smith of. For instance, Smith never said he "saw" 200 Hezbollah militiamen in the "tent city" in downtown Beirut. He never said Hezbollah militiamen had "taken over" a section of east Beirut. Nor did he mention anything about a "kidnap" attempt.

They wrongly accused him of making those statements. And so far they have gotten away with those accusations.

But this digresses.

What has happened is Smith has been ruthlessly attacked by the handful of questionable reporters under the command of a correspondent for The New Republic (recently under fire for a true fabricator, Scott Beauchamp, and obviously looking for payback) Thomas B. Edsall writing for the controversial Huffington Post. Smith was then charged by the Left blogosphere, convicted without a hearing, and sentenced (branded a "liar," a "fabricator," and a "fabulist") in the alternative and mainstream press.

Who has heard Smith's voice in the matter since he left National Review Online last week? Almost no one, he told us two days after his resignation.

"One or two have asked for my take in the matter," Smith says. "But most are either writing about it without talking to me, or ignoring it, and – I suppose – hoping it will go away."

The problem is, Smith is an American who got too close to Hezbollah and the truth of their activities (without their approval) in Lebanon. He reported things that were not supposed to be reported in an atmosphere where there is very little media objectivity, and huge stories are often not reported because Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah control much of what is reported in both the Lebanese media and among Western journalists in Lebanon.

Smith is also a conservative journalist, who the Left is willing to destroy without the facts, and some on the Right have been too willing to sacrifice – also without the facts – to demonstrate their ability to eliminate any possible Beauchamps in their midst, though Smith is nothing of the sort.

The Left contends Smith's report that between 4,000-5,000 Hezbollah militiamen to Christian areas of Beirut on an unspecified day in late September simply never happened.

As we write in this article, thousands of Hezbollah militants and supporters have been crossing from the southern suburbs to east Beirut for months, as hundreds – sometimes thousands – walk or motorcycle from their neighborhoods to visit or replace the hundreds of militants who are camping in front of the Prime Minister's building. And this is only scratching the surface.

The Left also contends that Smith's report of "some 200-plus heavily armed Hezbollah militiamen" occupying the "sprawling Hezbollah tent city" near the Lebanese parliament was wrong. And that, they say, makes him a "fabulist."

Who do they think they are kidding? There were more than 200 in September and October. Smith actually underreported. And the militants who have occupied downtown Beirut are armed and their weapons are hidden in their tents and in different locations. So again, Smith's attackers are flat wrong, as are any Lebanese reporters who would dare to say otherwise.

Let's also not forget: Hezbollah, including the terrorist organization's predecessors, are the ones who blew up the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing over 240 U.S. servicemen in 1983. They have kidnapped or murdered other Americans since, including journalists and educators.

Today, they are just as ruthless, just as murderous. But they have combined that ruthlessness with an ability to control and manipulate the national and international media. The Left's ruthless and unjustifiable attack – initiated by Edsall and his men, and proliferated throughout the liberal blogosphere – on a respected conservative writer like Smith is but one example.

If we allow this attack to stand with no challenge, what else will we stand for or turn our tails and run from?

— Tom Harb is secretary general of both the International Lebanese Committee for UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and the World Council of the Cedars Revolution. He may be contacted at tharb@aol.com.

© 2007 Tom Harb

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