Taking Hegseth Seriously on ‘Fake News' and the Iran Strike
A former TV journalist may not be a defense secretary for all seasons, but Pete Hegseth proved his usefulness Thursday by telling what radio man Paul Harvey used to call the rest of the story.
It concerned a preliminary, thinly based and cursory analysis by the Defense Intelligence Agency (one of 18 federal intelligence agencies) with a pessimistic account of the Iran strikes even as more valid information was pouring in about the recently-completed bombing mission.
One might even ask if the essentially worthless review was commissioned to be leaked.
Mr. Hegseth, in an understandable rant, referred to 'fake news' and the media's desire for grist and 'spin, spin, spin' to paint the Donald Trump-ordered strikes in a bad light. He's right. Even a decade from now some Americans will likely cling to the dismissive DIA report just as they cling to the Steele dossier because they want it to be true.
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