CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Trump’s War and Murky Messages From the Mainstream Media

Photograph Source: U.S. Navy Photo – Public Domain

George W. Bush lied about Iraq and non-existent weapons of mass destruction to go to war in 2003.  Donald Trump lied about an “imminent threat” from Iran to go to war in 2026.  There’s nothing new here in view of the disinformation that was used to justify the Mexican-American and Spanish-American Wars in the 19th century as well as the Vietnam War in the 20th century.

It is interesting, however, to compare the murky and jingoist reactions of the mainstream media that justify the war and predict favorable outcomes.  Some questioned the 2003 attack against Iraq and the justification for it.  They are curiously unquestioning today and generally supportive of the war.

The worst examples come from the New York Times.  Its leading Israeli apologist, Bret Stephens, predictably believes that “Trump and Netanyahu did the world a favor” because it is “impossible to imagine anything like Mideast peace without the end of [Iran’s] regime.”  Stephens credits Trump with restoring “deterrence and, in doing so, making diplomacy more effective.”  He credits Trump with “going to war for the sake of advancing democratic values,” and lauds Trump and Netanyahu for doing the “free world a courageous and historic favor.”

Stephens’s position is not surprising.  He has praise for Trump because Trump has........

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