"The job of a leader is to define reality."

World 'backs Lebanon offensive'

So says the Israeli Justice Minister, Haim Ramon, who also tells us:

"All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah."

Does the world really support the rape of Lebanon? Is everyone in South Lebanon really a "terrorist"? Well, yes; because it's our Leaders who decide what's real and what's not.

The Israeli Army spokesman, Captain Jacob Dallal:

"In the war on terror in general, it's not just about hitting an army base, which they don't have, or a bunker. It is also about undermining their ability to operate ... That ranges from incitement on television and radio, financial institutions and, of course, other grass-roots institutions that breed more followers, more terrorists, training bases, obviously, schools."

He forgot to mention women and children, UN observers, bridges, paper mills, food storage facilities and milk factories. Anything and anyone is a target, "in the war on terror in general". Villages are not villages, people are not people; they're something else entirely; they're Terror:

Justice Minister Haim Ramon, who is close to Olmert, said the Israeli air force must bomb villages before ground forces enter, suggesting that this would help prevent Israeli casualties in the future. Asked by Israel Army Radio whether entire villages should be flattened, he said: “These places are not villages. They are military bases in which Hezbollah people are hiding and from which they are operating.”

In the War On Terror In General, then, everything's going according to plan. Let no-one fret, for reality is in very capable hands:

"Barely three weeks after the catastrophe, on Oct. 3, 2001, President Bush convened business leaders on Wall Street to reassure them that he would do everything possible to steady the national economy, still reeling from the terrorist attacks. The executives called for a massive stimulus package, which Bush promised to provide, and they proceeded to heap praise on the commander in chief.

"The job of a leader is to define reality and give hope," said Kenneth Chenault, chief executive of American Express, "and you are defining this new reality ... and you are giving us a great deal of hope."