Krystal and Saagar are joined by Glenn Greenwald to examine the dangerous parallels between the current media environment surrounding U.S.-Iran tensions and the propaganda that preceded the Iraq War. Their conversation highlighted how media outlets serve as tools for government disinformation, the role of ideological fervor in shaping foreign policy, and the alarming repetition of past mistakes.
Media as a Tool of War Propaganda
The discussion opens with an examination of how major U.S. media organizations uncritically amplify narratives pushed by the Israeli and U.S. governments.
Greenwald pointed to a glaring example: conflicting headlines about Iran's willingness to negotiate. While one report claimed Iran was eager to negotiate, CNN framed it as Iran refusing talks until after retaliating against Israel. The point is to confuse and hide the truth.
Greenwald explains that disinformation is a deliberate weapon of war, and corporate media acts as a willing participant * rather than a watchdog. Skepticism alone may is not enough, given the historical record. Outright disbelief is warranted.
The media's failure to challenge government claims has repeatedly led nations into disastrous conflicts, with Iraq being the most infamous example.
Saagar added that even when administrations change, the same deceptive tactics persist. He referenced reports from Barak Ravid, an Israeli journalist with intelligence ties, who has consistently relayed U.S.-Israeli diplomatic claims without scrutiny. This stenographic journalism, Greenwald argued, is not accidental but systemic. Media figures see themselves as extensions of state power rather than independent truth seekers.
The Role of Religious Messianic Bullshit in Foreign Policy
The conversation turned to the disturbing influence of religious extremism in shaping U.S. and Israeli policies. Trump recently shared a letter from Mike Huckabee, his former ambassador to Israel, which framed Trump's survival of an assassination attempt as divine intervention, suggesting he was chosen for a historic, apocalyptic mission.
Our religious fanatics think the religious fanatics anywhere else are crazy.
Greenwald finds this alarming, particularly because the same rhetoric used to demonize Iran, accusing its leaders of being irrational theocratic nutballs, applies equally to key figures in the U.S. and Israel.
Netanyahu has long framed regional conflicts in biblical terms. U.S. evangelicals half-wits support Israel to fulfill end-times prophecies. The hypocrisy is staggering.
Iran's religious ideology is deemed dangerous, while American and Israeli leaders who invoke divine mandate are given a pass.
Eerie Parallels to the Iraq War
The same propaganda tactics used to sell the Iraq War are being recycled today. It will probably work. Americans are too deceived to smell the truth.
Glenn Beck, who once infamously declared that Americans would be "greeted as liberators" in Iraq, has returned with nearly identical rhetoric about Iran. He now claims that this conflict is different—more "surgical" and "preemptive"—yet the underlying fear-mongering is identical.
Greenwald noted that the same people who lied about Iraq's nonexistent WMDs are pushing the narrative. Iran it is claimed is on the verge of nuclear capability, with hot pants to use them. Despite intelligence consensus to the contrary.
Even the phrasing is recycled—Ted Cruz recently echoed George W. Bush's infamous "mushroom cloud" warning.
Saagar highlighted a clip of Netanyahu from 2002, where he insisted Saddam Hussein was "feverishly working" on nuclear weapons, a claim later debunked. Today, Netanyahu makes the same assertions about Iran, and once again, the media fails to challenge him. It worked the first time, Netanyahu will do it again. People will be fooled again.
The Futility of Accountability
Those who lied the U.S. into Iraq faced no consequences. Many of the liars became rich and influential. Some, like Ari Fleischer and Paul Wolfowitz, remain influential.
Greenwald notes that even within the MAGA movement, a movement that once opposed foreign intervention, there is capitulation. Voices are goose-stepping in line behind Trump's aggressive raw power.
The threat of excommunication from the ecosystem controlled by our orange fuhrer, silences dissent.
Conclusion: A Cycle of Deception
Rinse and repeat. The bleak reality. Propaganda works, even when it's been exposed before. The same actors, the same narratives, and the same media complicity are driving the U.S. toward another catastrophic conflict.
Without systemic media reform and genuine political accountability, history will repeat and Americans will die.
Once war begins, trajectory is unpredictable. The lessons of Iraq should have been indelible, but here we are again. On the brink. With truth the first casualty.
* From a Marxist point of view, corporate media belongs to the bourgeoisie or the ruling class.