{"id":22498,"date":"2026-03-12T07:53:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=22498"},"modified":"2026-03-12T08:11:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T12:11:31","slug":"washington-posts-crazy-iran-war-conspiracy-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/12\/washington-posts-crazy-iran-war-conspiracy-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Post\u2019s Crazy Iran War Conspiracy Theory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/jpb-TRUMP-MISSILE-WASHINGTON-POST-LOGOlargermissilepunchfilter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-22499\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/jpb-TRUMP-MISSILE-WASHINGTON-POST-LOGOlargermissilepunchfilter-1024x597.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"555\" height=\"324\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/jpb-TRUMP-MISSILE-WASHINGTON-POST-LOGOlargermissilepunchfilter-1024x597.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/jpb-TRUMP-MISSILE-WASHINGTON-POST-LOGOlargermissilepunchfilter-800x467.jpg 800w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/jpb-TRUMP-MISSILE-WASHINGTON-POST-LOGOlargermissilepunchfilter-150x88.jpg 150w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/jpb-TRUMP-MISSILE-WASHINGTON-POST-LOGOlargermissilepunchfilter-768x448.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/jpb-TRUMP-MISSILE-WASHINGTON-POST-LOGOlargermissilepunchfilter.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/><\/a>Libertarian Institute, March 12, 2026<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/libertarianinstitute.org\/articles\/epstein-network-an-iranian-conspiracy-claims-washington-post\/\">Washington Post\u2019s Crazy Iran War Conspiracy Theory<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>By James Bovard<\/p>\n<p>Why do so many Americans distrust the Washington Post? \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2026\/03\/10\/epstein-files-pro-iran-propaganda\/\">Pro-Iran propaganda network gains traction with posts about Epstein<\/a>\u201doffers a tankerload of clues.<\/p>\n<p>Social media is overflowing\u00a0 with bogus claims and A.I. videos related to the Iran War.\u00a0\u00a0 Prudent folks are already wary about any claims of glorious victory or total destruction they see online.\u00a0 <strong>But can political shysters exploit the war to vaccinate President Trump against his biggest scandal?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Long before Trump partnered with Israel to attack Tehran, Democrats, libertarians, and even decent Americans warned that Trump would bomb Iran again to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein pedophile scandal. \u00a0Most American voters believe that \u201cTrump launched the war on Iran at least in part to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal,\u201d according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropsitenews.com\/p\/new-survey-american-voters-believe-trump-launched-iran-war-cover-up-epstein-scandal-israel\">new poll by DropSite<\/a> News. Fifty-two percent of voters agreed with that statement, while 40% disagreed.<\/p>\n<p>But according to the Washington Post, anyone who still complains about the Epstein scandal is propelling Iranian propaganda. Early in the Post article, the Post flourishes nuggets of wisdom from a certified Washington expert:\u00a0 \u201cThere is a lot of Epstein-related content being pushed out to draw eyeballs\u2026 You come for the Epstein content, and you stay for the propaganda.\u201d That quote is from Bret Schafer, who the Post identifies as a research director \u201cat the nonprofit Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD)\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Post neglected to mention that nonprofit institute is bankrolled by the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. State Department.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t trust Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio to protect America from propaganda, who can you trust?<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Touting a federally-funded entity as \u201cindependent\u201d doesn\u2019t count as propaganda because the Washington Post is the Oracle of Delphi, at least inside the Beltway.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Post damn-near-breathlessly notes that \u201cdisinformation researchers have also taken note of the campaign to link U.S. and Israeli leaders to Epstein.\u201d I was disappointed that the Post didn\u2019t disprove any links between Trump and Epstein by slavishly quoting Trump\u2019s denial that he\u2019d ever been friends with Epstein (despite droves of video and photographic evidence to the contrary).<\/p>\n<p>Later in the story, readers learn that \u201cPosts on X that used the phrase \u2018Epstein regime\u2019 \u2014 a derogatory reference to the U.S.-Israel alliance \u2014 increased one hundred-fold on the first day of the missile strikes, said Emerson Brooking, director of strategy at the Atlantic Council\u2019s Digital Forensic Research Lab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Post four-alarm story on propaganda fails to mention that the Atlantic Council is heavily funded by the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department.\u00a0 Or does the Post consider such funding as proof that the Atlantic Council is trustworthy?<\/p>\n<p>That passage in the story caught my eye because the Digital Forensic Research Lab sought to tar me as a Russian agent in 2024.\u00a0 In a post headlined, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/dfrlab.org\/2024\/10\/30\/russia-outlets-amplify-conspiracies\/\">Russian Outlets Amplify Conspiracies<\/a>,\u201d the Lab warned that<strong> Zero Hedge \u201ci<\/strong>s actively reprinting content from fringe sources that claims the establishment is manipulating legal and electoral system to \u2018steal\u2019 the election. Examples include an <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.today\/2024.10.21-000226\/https:\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/bovard-democrats-three-decade-war-honest-voting\">article<\/a> by James Bovard <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.today\/2024.10.20-165435\/https:\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/the-democrats-three-decade-war-on-honest-voting\/\">originally published<\/a> in <em>The American Conservative<\/em>, which alleges legal efforts to protect voting rights are part of a Democrat conspiracy to enable fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So I was part of a Russian-linked conspiracy because I objected to states counting mail-in ballots that arrived with no postmark long after Election Day? Alas, my Rubles kickback never arrived.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Did a Washington Post editor simply tell reporter Will Oremus: \u201cRound up the usual suspects\u201d and presume readers would swallow whatever the Post shoveled?<\/p>\n<p>No such luck: the article evoked a head-snapping hostile backlash from hundreds of readers:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis sounds like something Trump and his gang would do to spread distrust about all the Epstein revelations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeems to me this article is pro-Trump regime propaganda. Labeling anti-trump criticism as somehow pro-Iran is a blatant lie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWapo is the definition of gaslighting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pro-Iranian Media and Everyone Else on Earth With an IQ Larger Than Their Shoe Size Believes This War Was Started To Distract&#8230;&#8221;. Fixed your headline for you WAPO.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Post article catalogued Twitter\/X accounts that posted deceptive or false videos connecting Trump to Epstein.\u00a0 By contacting Twitter\/X headquarters, the Post succeeded in getting several of those accounts banned.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0 But the Post has ignored or downplayed most of the falsehoods that have permeated Trump and his administration\u2019s tub-thumping for the war.\u00a0 Trump changes the rationale and the goals for the war practically every daily news cycle.\u00a0 Does the president continue to deserve deference regardless of often he brazenly contradicts himself?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a Florida press conference on Monday, Trump was pressed by New York Times White House correspondent Shawn McCreesh on the U.S.\u00a0 Tomahawk missile that killed more than a hundred girls at an Iranian school.\u00a0 Trump falsely claimed that Iran had Tomahawk missiles.\u00a0 McCreesh followed up: \u201cEven your Defense secretary wouldn&#8217;t say that when he was asked standing over your shoulder on your plane on Saturday. Why are you the only person saying this?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trump replied, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/fact-checking-trumps-claim-that-iran-has-tomahawk-missiles\">Because I just don&#8217;t know enough<\/a> about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Actually, that is the storyline for Trump and the entire war so far. <strong>Will the Washington Post grant total absolution to Trump based on his near-total ignorance?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That Tomahawk story got better on Tuesday.\u00a0 At a White House press briefing, Karoline Leavitt insisted that people should wait for the Department of War to issue their official storyline on how that girls school happened to get blown up. Then she asserted: &#8220;The president has a right to share his opinions with the American public.&#8221; The president has a First Amendment right to lie about U.S. war crimes, right?\u00a0 Leavitt talked as if Trump is akin to an innocent bystander who witnessed a fender bender during rush hour.<\/p>\n<p>Leavitt then revealed the Rosetta Stone for the entire war: \u201cFrankly, we&#8217;re not <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/amconmag\/status\/2031444598271127891\">going to be harassed<\/a> by the new York Times, who has been putting out a lot of articles on this making claims [about the school bombing] that have been verified by the Department of War.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Trump administration supposedly still has a monopoly over defining truth \u2013 regardless of its deluge of false claims on Iran and the war in recent weeks. And anyone who exposes official falsehoods is guilty of \u201charassing\u201d the politicians who are saving America.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Both sides in the war between Israel and the U.S. versus Iran will continue to deluge the world with propaganda. When the war ends and the smoke clears, it will become easier to recognize more of the falsehoods endlessly retweeted by insufficiently skeptical folks. <strong>But the Epstein scandal won\u2019t go away no matter how many wild-eyed victory claims that Trump makes. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Libertarian Institute, March 12, 2026 Washington Post\u2019s Crazy Iran War Conspiracy Theory By James Bovard Why do so many Americans distrust the Washington Post? \u201cPro-Iran propaganda network gains traction with posts about Epstein\u201doffers a tankerload of clues. Social media is overflowing\u00a0 with bogus claims and A.I. videos related to the Iran War.\u00a0\u00a0 Prudent folks are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4411,945,4801,4799,4798,1761,4613,4762,1289,4802,708,833,4800],"class_list":["post-22498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-atlantic-council","tag-conspiracy","tag-digital-forensic-research-lab","tag-dropsite-news","tag-iran-war","tag-israel","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-karoline-leavitt","tag-russian","tag-tomahawk-missile","tag-trump","tag-washington-post","tag-zero-hedge"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Washington Post\u2019s Crazy Iran War Conspiracy Theory - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington Post claims that suggesting that Trump bombed Tehran to distract from Epstein scandal is pro-Iran propaganda\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/12\/washington-posts-crazy-iran-war-conspiracy-theory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Washington Post\u2019s Crazy Iran War Conspiracy Theory - 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The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. 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The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22498"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22501,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22498\/revisions\/22501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}