Canadian journalist Blake Lambert, whom the Ugandan government punted out of the country in March for doing his job, saw my original post on a BBC editor's musings about how the despite the far higher human carnage in Congo, for example, the Middle East will dominate in the news.

He sent me a lengthy note that was pretty informative. I asked him if I could post it, and he graciously said yes. Here it is:

In AP stories posted on CTV.ca, the point is made that the ferocious Israeli assault on Hezbollah is making the Shiite militant group folk heroes throughout the Arab world, especially its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. In response, even pro-U.S. governments find themselves forced to shift their criticism to Israel. Part of the irony is that Hezbollah's popularity had been on the wane in south Lebanon in recent times.

Here's a BBC analysis that finds much the same thing: