In Wake Of Soleimani Hit, One NYT Reporter Amplified Iranian Propaganda

https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/11/soleimani-nyt-reporter-amplify-iranian-propaganda/

In the days following the Jan. 2 strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, one New York Times journalist in particular became the focus of criticism for consistently amplifying Iranian messaging.

The journalist was by no means an isolated case. Iranian propaganda and propagandists managed to get air time on CNN, Yahoo, the NYT and Washington Post, among other outlets, and a fake American death toll that made headlines on MSNBC was actually sourced directly to Iranian media. Above it all though was New York Times reporter Farnaz Fassihi.

Fassihi’s aggressive dissemination of Iranian messaging started almost immediately after the Jan. 2 strike that killed Soleimani. She began Jan. 3 by peddling “unconfirmed reports” of “ballistic missiles hitting” Ain Al-Assad, the largest U.S. military base. There was no attack at that time.

NY Post reporter Jonathan Levine called her out when she later followed up to say the initial reports were false. Under pressure, Fassihi later deleted the tweet.

The same day, Fassihi posted a video showing a lighter side of the terrorist who has been accused of killing hundreds of Americans. The video, attributed to a “source in Iran,” shows Soleimani reciting poetry. The Daily Caller made several attempts to get a hold of Fassihi, and queries to the Times went unanswered.

“I think the government of Iran gave that to her,” Tony Shaffer, a retired army intelligence officer, told the Daily Caller. “How many on the ground folks do you have in Baghdad right now who are gonna be able to call you up and give you a video and you’re gonna believe it? They’re not. It’s incredible, it’s just not believable.”