ALL PERPETRATORS OF extreme political brutality tend to react to criticism from their own side in exactly the same way, just with different nouns. It’s like a special edition of Mad Libs (an American fill-in-the-blank word game) for violent radicals:
[Person on My Side] criticizes us for [Atrocity by Our Side]!
But where was [Person on My Side]’s condemnation of [Atrocity by the Other Side]?!?
For instance, here’s Ayman al-Zawahiri, now head of al Qaeda, responding in 2008 to criticism by his one-time mentor that al Qaeda’s violence was a misinterpretation of the doctrine of jihad:
This is what I have to say in response. …
Why did [my fellow Muslims] condemn what happened in America but we heard no one condemn what America did to the Sudanese factory? … What about the almost daily starving of the Iraqi people and the attacks on them? What about the sieges and attacks on the Muslim state of Afghanistan?
We have also seen some evil “scholars” … quoting the textual evidences out of context. Today, we shall tackle this topic. …
[They] cry and mourn on the death of the Kuffar [non-believers], while the death hundreds of muslim men, women, old and children dying daily in the airstrikes don’t effect them in anyway.
Obviously this is lots of fun, because now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to play.
Sen. Patrick Leahy and 10 House members wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry this week asking him to assess the credibility of reports that U.S. military aid to Israel and Egypt might violate U.S. law prohibiting such aid to governments that commit any “gross violation of human rights.” Netanyahu responded in a brief, official written statement:
PM Netanyahu’s Response to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy’s Letter …
Where is the concern for the human rights of the many Israelis who’ve been murdered and maimed by these savage terrorists?
All that said, it’s not quite fair to say that Netanyahu’s propaganda is exactly the same as that of ISIS and al Qaeda. To Netanyahu’s credit, his statement is much more concise.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
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