Our Government Has a History of Lying Us Into War. It’s the Media’s Job to Challenge That.

Weapons of mass destruction. Bombing a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant. The Gulf of Tonkin incident. There’s plenty of good reasons for journalists to question US military claims. Most importantly, because that’s their job.

In the span of a few hours one day last week, two separate Biden administration press representatives accused two separate reporters of siding with America’s enemies for asking government officials to provide evidence for public claims. 

Aboard Air Force One, NPR White House Correspondent Ayesha Rascoe asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki for evidence of the US’s claim that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, an ISIS leader killed along with numerous civilians (including children) during a US raid, had detonated a suicide bomb. Far from providing evidence, Psaki expressed surprise that anyone could doubt the US military’s claims when it came to civilian casualties. She went a step further and accused such people of believing ISIS over the US military.  

That same day, Associated Press diplomatic writer, Matt Lee, asked State Department press secretary Ned Price for evidence of a US claim that Russia was plotting a false flag attack to create a pretext for invading Ukraine. Much like Psaki, Price wasn’t keen on giving any evidence. Price told the reporter, “If you doubt the credibility of the U.S. government, of the British government, of other governments and want to, you know, find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do,”

Both of these comments are unacceptable. Journalists are not supposed to be stenographers for the powerful. Nor should they accept official proclamations of governments as infallible evidence. As legendary journalist IF Stone famously said, “All governments lie.” And it’s the job of journalists to ferret out those lies.

When it comes to issues of war and peace, lies and misinformation can have deadly consequences. Journalists have a duty to be skeptical and demand solid evidence so the public can critically evaluate the case for war. 

And there is ample reason for journalists to question official US government claims.  

In the last six months alone, journalists have repeatedly exposed US claims about its military actions to be false. On August 29, 2021, a US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan killed 10 civilians, including 7 children. While the Pentagon initially insisted it was “righteous strike,” they backtracked after an investigation by the New York Times exposed their statements as false. Similarly, on March 26, 2017 the US bombed a civilian dam in Syria. At the time, the Pentagon called reports that they had done so “crazy reporting.” Far from crazy reporting, last month in response to an investigation by New York Times the government was forced to admit that they did drop a 2,000 pound bomb on a civilian dam on its no-strike list.

Unfortunately, this pattern is not limited to the recent past. In 1998, the Clinton administration bombed what it claimed was a chemical weapons factor in Sudan. Later, it turned out they had destroyed a pharmaceutical factory.

When it comes to military action, government lies are not limited to after the fact.

The Vietnam War was escalated based on a lie about an attack on a US ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. The US invasion of Iraq was predicated on lies about Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction and ties to the horrific September 11th terror attacks. The consequences of those lies were catastrophic for the Vietnamese, Iraqi, and American peoples. 

It is precisely what is at stake with the decision to go to war that it requires an inquisitive press, robust and informed public debate, and consideration of dissenting points of view. Yet, when it comes to foreign policy governments love to cast their critics or even those just asking legitimate questions as somehow aiding the enemy.  

It’s the job of journalists to ask governments for evidence. Government officials who accuse them of siding with the enemy or finding hostile powers more persuasive than their own government are engaging in demagoguery that endangers democracy.

Primary Sources Podcast 

Last year, on the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Pentagon Papers we launched a new limited series podcast featuring first hand interviews with national security whistleblowers. The podcast has explored everything from the US drone program to the war in Afghanistan to the Pentagon Papers. The following episodes may be of particular interest: