MSNBC Airs Stunning Claim That Iran-Backed Attackers Are 'War Heroes'
When The New York Times called the U.S. embassy attackers in Baghdad “mourners,” it was like I was having a flashback to October.
That’s when the Scylla to The Times’ old-media Chardyis, The Washington Post, called just-deceased Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi an “austere religious scholar.”
To be fair to The Times, however, in al-Baghdadi’s case most everyone knew well enough to stay far away from praising the man at the helm of a murderous terrorist organization.
The Iraqi embassy attack, on the other hand, was a case where the media played a round-robin game of “hold my beer.”
No one outlet seemed to have done more beer-holding than MSNBC.
Granted, when Joy Reid made her infamous quote about “Trump’s Benghazi” unfolding in the Iraqi capital — which sounded a bit like she was rooting for it, although she was hardly the only one to call it that — she was on social media.
I mean, sure, she’s said other ridiculous stuff on the airwaves, but this one wasn’t under the aegis of the network she’s associated with.
As Trump’s Benghazi unfolds in Iraq… https://t.co/X8FsJpt6Au
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) December 31, 2019
The same, alas, can’t be said for guest Hillary Mann Leverett and her bizarre ramblings during Wednesday’s “MSNBC Live,” in which she “hold my beer”ed the “mourners” remark by calling the Iran-backed attackers “war heroes.”
Now, first, Leverett was just a guest. Can we really say that the network is responsible for this?
I mean, who would have guessed that the woman who co-authored “Going to Tehran: Why America Must Accept the Islamic Republic of Iran” with her husband would say something cretinous about attacks authored by Tehran?
Host Geoff Bennett began the segment by revealing some pre-show banter that, in any other world that wasn’t cable news, Leverett might have wanted kept private.
“You mentioned something that we talked about before the show started with these 750 U.S. troops going to the region. That’s 750 targets, as you put it,” Bennett said.
If this was something Leverett wanted kept secret, it certainly didn’t show, as she responded, “Yes, President Trump keeps giving the gift that keeps on giving to Iran.”
It’s not because he’s sent the members of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution each a subscription to the Jelly of the Month Club, either.
“He’s attacking war heroes, people who fought ISIS. Iraqis who fought ISIS and claiming that somehow they’re just proxy puppets in Iran, when in Iraq, many of them are seen as war heroes and so he’s sparking these types of backlash against the United States, against the U.S. military presence, diplomatic presence, and this just gives Iran all sorts of assets around the region.”
It’s unclear from context whether she was talking about the U.S. airstrike on the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia which killed 25 people in retaliation for an airstrike that killed an American citizen or whether she was referring to the embassy attackers.
Newsbusters‘ Alex Christy seemed to believe it was the airstrike, which is what prompted the embassy attack. Either way is pretty reprehensible.
In one case, she’s saying that airstrikes on Iranian proxies are a bad thing. In another, she’s saying that Iranian proxies attacking our embassy are “war heroes.” Really, take your pick which is more vile.
And yes, she used the “Trump’s Benghazi” comparison, although she went a bit beyond that.
“But for some it’s also Saigon in Vietnam where U.S. diplomats were forced to flee from the roof by helicopter,” Leverett said.
“How else are they going to get out of Iraq today? This is all a victory for Iran and 750 more troops just gives the Iranians and their friends more targets either to shoot at or even to take hostage.”
We’ll see how that works, given that we saw none of this and that that the Quds Force — the biggest name in the loose firmament of Tehran-backed forces in Iraq — just lost its leader in an American-led attack on his convoy at Baghdad International Airport.
Anyway, back to the MSNBC clip, which still had plenty of yikes to be squeezed out of it.
Bennett on our embassy in Baghdad: “That embassy, that 100-acre-wide embassy, really is symbolic of the U.S.’ enduring presence in Iraq, is it not?”
“It’s not seen as the presence of a friend,” Leverett responded. “To have 100 acres in the heart of your capital. The beating heart of the Arab and Muslim world: Baghdad. That is — it’s an occupier. It is an enduring symbol of an occupier.”
So let’s say we didn’t have an embassy in Baghdad.
What they would be be saying then? That Trump wasn’t engaging with the Iraqis by refusing to build one?
And what if it wasn’t as secure as it is? Then Trump should have built a “100-acre-wide embassy” so that we had safety?
And then there’s the truly important question: Would it have mattered? Probably not.
This is Leverett, though. Her final prediction was that a) we’d get forcibly kicked out of Iraq or b) there will be a negotiated withdrawal.
“Otherwise his 2020 election campaign is going to be like Jimmy Carter’s 1980 where he’s forced out of the presidency by Iran,” she said.
I’m sure, based on everything that came before, that this is exactly what President Trump is worried about.
Rest assured, however, that if you sit next to MSNBC over the next few days, they might ask you to hold their beer. Just saying.
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