CNN's lazy propaganda pushing for war with Iran
Just another example of CNN doing what they do best
CNN must know most people don’t read beyond the headlines, and judging by the article they published earlier this week, they’re apparently banking on it. Marketed as a CNN exclusive, the piece is titled, “Found document suggests Iran sought to help Hamas make its own weapons ahead of attack, sources say”.
Even in the headline itself, CNN shamelessly alludes to the nature of the baseless claims that follow by throwing in “sources say” at the end of the headline, a truly pathetic attempt at backing up what amounts to an explosive allegation.
The article leads off by telling readers that a “document” recovered from a computer “found inside a Hamas pickup truck outside Gaza” shows a Hamas military commander “requesting a scholarship for Hamas operatives” to study engineering, physics, and technology at universities in Iran.
The “document” was supposedly passed on to CNN from “Israeli officials”, marking one of many points throughout the article where the network makes claims and then uses unnamed sources to back them up:
“While it is widely known that Iran provides financial and military support to Hamas, Israeli officials and some former US intelligence officials say the document is evidence that in the run up to the October 7 attack on southern Israel, Iran was seeking to provide technical training that would help Hamas produce its own weaponry.”
“The Israeli government declined to comment on the document, though sources in the government confirmed its authenticity on background.”
In other words, “some” “officials” say the document is evidence, so we should believe them, whoever they are, and “sources” confirmed the document’s authenticity, even though — again — we have no idea who they are.
For a network with as large of a reach as CNN, it seems verifying claims like this should be pretty important. But half-way through the story, CNN admits they have no idea if any of what they’ve published is actually true, writing, “CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the letter.”
The network also confesses in the article that even some of their nameless “officials” have doubts, writing: “Israeli officials say this is the first known instance of Iran attempting to fund this kind of university-hosted training for Hamas operatives, a claim US officials said they could not confirm.”
More than two decades ago, public support for the US invasion of Iraq was largely sold to the public by news networks such as CNN who were more than willing to use unnamed, unknown “officials” as “sources”.
Once the war had successfully been started, CNN briefly went through a period of reflection, openly lamenting about their willingness to push pro-war propaganda without first verifying it.
Unfortunately, that moment of reflection was short lived and CNN quickly returned to doing what they does best: convincing the American public to support needless wars and interventions around the world.