I actually commented that this is the norm during wartime or in the leadup to war. In other words, it's a common occurrence. More than any military or political implications, I'm most interested in why the class of people who are supposed to be our most skeptical, mostly fall for such dubious pieces of propaganda so easily, again and again. I've come to doubt that our aspiring journalists are taught anymore that one of their central responsibilities is to challenge those in power and what they tell us. More often than not, they show themselves to be parrots for these folks and entities and attack those who are skeptical.