Wars are founded on a bed of lies. That’s one reason I hate the mainstream media so much, they are the salesmen.
fuck the Washington post for writing this now ffs, where were they when Afghanistan was being invaded? Selling war lies, that’s where.
This is
absolutely true, but to be fair the Washington Post has gone through a complete ownership, publishing, and editorial change since then. Much like "the government," "the media" isn't a static entity. We can and should demand better from them rather than throwing out the institutional baby with the bathwater.
Using FOIA is something anyone can and should do to find out what the US government is up to. I remember the lead up to war too and was a reporter at the time, albeit for a podunk local paper. I remember trying to write an article about the sabre rattling that was going on and being told it wasn't what we did. I ended up getting the story out in the end, but it was a neutered version of what was really happening. Most folks I interviewed for the piece were scared and uncertain and willing to dump a crazy amount of trust in the state to do anything to "keep us safe." I'd like to believe we're generally a more circumspect society now, but when I see stories like this, I basically get how people who lived through Vietnam felt when the Pentagon papers came out. Mostly numb because so much damage has been done, but glad it's at least on the record in a high profile way.