The Passion of the Toys [More photos from Beirut]

Slublog ^ | August 08, 2006 | Slublog

[PajamaTruthMafia]

The Passion of the Toys

In Platoon, Oliver Stone said the first casualty of war is innocence.

He was wrong.

As the photos here show, the first casualties of war are...the symbols of innocence. And photographers from Reuters and the AP just happened upon many of these perfectly placed symbols of war's horrors.

Ben Curtis, AP

Sharif Karim, Reuters

Sharif Karim, Reuters

Sharif Karim, Reuters

Issam Kobeisi, Reuters

Mohamed Azakir, Reuters

This last one is the only one that seems...untouched.

Feel the pathos. Mourn for these oh-so-photogenic and suspiciously dust-free trinkets of childhood.

Just don't ask any questions about their veracity.

That would be wrong.

[HKMk23]

HEY, look at what he's got in his left hand!

Isn't that the very same Minnie Mouse as in the picture at the top of this thread?!

[pollyannaish]

They also look VERY western. Does anyone know if that is common in this area?

[FreedomCalls]

Here's another staged photo:

(not hot-linkable -- Corbis photo)

Notice the rocks placed "just so" -- one large one under it, two in from of it -- so as to prop up the undusted, undamaged photo perfectly for the camera.

[Shermy]

PajamaTruthMafia is playing with you.

Shows how easy this product is to manipulate.

[ApplegateRanch]

Probably one in every major Hezzie villiage. I would not doubt that some of the double as them Local Cooter, too.

If he can't rent or sell a replacement, he'll fall back to fixing what ails...for the right price.

[RetSignman]

A Lebanese man holds toys he will plant for photographers.

[FreeAndRight]

You Guys MUST SEE THIS VIDEO, It explains everything...


http://youtube.com/watch?v=t_B1H-1opys ^

[ApplegateRanch]

If you people keep up this atrocious debunking of our stories and photographs, you will force us to amend the copyright laws, to exclude any "fair use" or discussion, except by qualified journalists

(SS)
AP
Rooters
AFPPPants
Commies for Peace
BBC
Dan Rather
....

[Sloth]

[PajamaTruthMafia]

Shermy, I think what HKMk23 is saying is that your post #19 pic shows the guy carrying the same Minnie Mouse as in Post #1. Check his left hand...2 toys... purple cow and what could be a Minnie Mouse

[RetSignman]

Yeah, he wasn't picking UP toys, he was going around planting them.

[jonrick46]

The man looks too clean to be riffling through rubble. I think the toys were part of the photographer's accessory bag.

[Shermy]

I see that now. HKMk23 has a great find. In the left hand at #19 is a Minnie Mouse doll, partly shaded by the purple teletubbie. The same Minnie as in the other pic...?

[freema]

Good thread.

[ApplegateRanch]

Notice the rocks placed "just so" -- one large one under it, two in from of it -- so as to prop up the undusted, undamaged photo perfectly for the camera.

The million monkeys just banged out all of Shakespeare's works today, plus the first 19 books of the Bible, with Spurgeon's Commentaries appended.

Allah Reuters works in mysterious ways, indeed!

[Shermy]

Same Minnie Mouse?

[PajamaTruthMafia]

[t_skoz]

BTTT!

this blatant creation of news is getting stupid...

[Tinian]

Bookmark.Excellent.Post.

[Suzy Quzy]

finnman69 coined a new word...FAUXTOGRAPHY!! Pass it on!!

[skr]

LOL!

[Suzy Quzy]

Isn't that a doll???

[Suzy Quzy]

FUNNY!!!

[FreedomCalls]

finnman69 coined a new word...FAUXTOGRAPHY!! Pass it on!!

Sorry, Charles Johnson at LGF was there first. Great word, just place the credit where it is due.

[TASMANIANRED]

LOL..Green helmet man.

[TASMANIANRED]

Whom ever photo shopped them has real talent.

[Suzy Quzy]

gee...i did as soon as you corrected me before.

[HKMk23]

Take a careful look at the near-vertical fractured concrete column at the top of the frame, above the Minnie Mouse doll, in the top pic and compare it with the fractured concrete column just above-left of the man's head in the middle pic. It's the same column. Also, as noted above, the Minnie Mouse doll that appears in two (or maybe all) of these pictures is the same one.

Same man, same shirt, same toys, same day -- these three photos were taken in the same place, at the same time. But in what order?

More clues:
In the bottom photo, the pink-clad doll appears with the clothes nearly off, but it's fully-dressed in the middle frame. If the man bothered to get the doll dressed, he had to put down the other two toys that he had in his hands. So, why aren't they in the suitcase, or on the ground at his feet? If he's retrieving the doll from the rubble in the bottom frame, then why isn't the teletubby in the suitcase already in the middle frame? The Minnie Mouse doll COULD be the object just below the pink doll in the suitcase picture (though I'm not convinced), but where's the teletubby? The man had all three in his hands in the bottom picture, but it seems the teletubby got lost between there and the suitcase.

Quite obviously, as many have already pointed out, the whole shoot was a totally staged event. This al-Stoolie isn't collecting beloved toys, he's setting up props for a feauxtographer.

[skr]

Only the blue one (some sort of Smurf?) might be face down. The rest conveniently are hamming it up for the camera.

Amazing how the tiger landed upright; and particularly amazing that it did so on a nice flat rock.

[Shermy]

Good catch again.

"If the man bothered to get the doll dressed, he had to put down the other two toys that he had in his hands"

I think he tore the clothes off the doll to give it a distressed look.

[FreedomCalls]

gee...i did as soon as you corrected me before.

Different thread. We are about accuracy right?

[rfp1234]

--Instead of rescuing the semi-useful suitcase, he's going to rescue the toys!--

The suitcase (and its contents) are too clean - he brought the BS-Photo-Kit to the site himself!

[TET1968]

I still like Reutered as in a Reutered image.

[Tinian]

If you have the FireFox extension that allows you zoom in, check out the area of rubble just above the left hand of the man pawing through the suitcase. Is that a real doll's head? a human skull? the play of light on rubble? I'm waiting for the next issue of The Weekly World News to find out for sure.

[BIGLOOK]

They missed this one.

[jonrick46]

A great find. Yes it is the same Minnie Mouse doll.

[jonrick46]

I heard Michael Medved talking about the funeral procession video. Like the YouTube video, a picture is worth a 1000 weapons. I looks like these Muslim liars are trying to rewrite The Arabian Lies: The Thousand and One Lies. After this is all over, will the world ever again trust these barbarians?

[Suzy Quzy]

Could someone tell me if that's a doll???

[Theo]

Old story. Yes, it's a doll.

[BIGLOOK]

That's a doll. It's GI Joe series named Cody. A photo fraud.

[cookcounty]

" Isn't it odd that none of the stuffed toys are burned, soot-stained or even dusty?"

Will the Hezbogoons stop hiding behind women and children, and take now cover behind Teddy Bears?

[Merta]

All of this talk about photo propaganda reminds me of the one Calvin and Hobbes script where Calvin, in order to show his mom that me has cleaned his room, shuffles all of the messy stuff from the bed to the southern part of it, and has Hobbes take a picture of only just the front, to show his mom that yes, his room(or at least his bed) is clean. I don't remember what he said at the end, that was witty, but for some reason it came into my head when I read this thread.

[garyhope]

I think Green Helmet guy has a toy concession in Beirut.

[Suzy Quzy]

Thanks....did they really try to pass that off as real??

[fanfan]

placemark

[Cecily]

Somebody needs to photoshop the looter guy from Hurricane Katrina carrying a basket of toys.

[Miss Marple]

Yes, they did. There is an old story about it somewhere on FR.

[TaxRelief]

1) Man arrives with suitcase full of American toys and dismantles doll in pink dress.


2) Man carries dismantled doll, minnie mouse and teletubbie for placing in position.


3) Fauxtographers take pictures when props are in position.

[ccmay]

That is the most jarring juxtaposition of iconic photos I have seen in quite some time.

[Grampa Dave]

Check out reply #198 just above your reply for jarring.

I had one of these photos in my series. I will add all of them.