The Washington Post took flak after it referred to Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani as “Iran’s most revered military leader” after news broke of his death Thursday.
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Breaking news: Airstrike at Baghdad airport kills Iran’s most revered military leader, Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi state television reports https://t.co/NbZW4DaWvD
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 3, 2020
Many on Twitter chided the paper for not referring to Soleimani as a terrorist. Some also hearkened back to when they referred to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi as an “austere religious scholar.” The Washington Post changed the headline to both of the articles after backlash.
Iran is the world’s #1 state sponsor of terror. They kidnap & kill Americans.
They’re responsible for the deaths of thousands of US troops.
They’ve wounded thousands more.
They attacked our embassy.
Soleimani was the architect of it all. The world is better off without him. https://t.co/OyHGkGENlV— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 3, 2020
Setting aside the serious and complex policy question about the wisdom of this assassination, I’m not sure “most revered military leader” is the title that I would have chosen to describe Soleimani. The noun or adjective, “terrorist”, should have been worked into this headline. https://t.co/YOplDV9OgV
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) January 3, 2020
The “revered military leader” has now met the same fate as the “austere religious scholar.” https://t.co/5EQAHERlAF
— Alex VanNess ? (@thealexvanness) January 3, 2020
And today @washingtonpost with “??????? ???????? ??????” confirmd its place in the journalistic public toilet that “??????? ???????” inhabits. Employs Rana Ayyub obviously ….Jihadis of a feather flock together? https://t.co/HktWoHTdPr
— Abhijit Iyer-Mitra (@Iyervval) January 3, 2020
#FakeNews! He was NOT revered by Iranians- he was a murderer and terrorist who did all of the regime’s regional dirty work! https://t.co/MapyzFC1zn
— Lisa Daftari (@LisaDaftari) January 3, 2020
Soleimani was killed Thursday in airstrikes directed by President Trump. “This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans,” the Department of Defense said in a statement. “The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the word.”
The airstrike follows attacks by Iranian-backed militia groups of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Trump warned Tuesday that the U.S. would respond to the attacks.
