Colin Powell Stuns MSNBC Host: Rips “Almost Hysterical” Coverage Of Fake Russia Bounty Story

When Colin Powell of all people has to appear on MSNBC to slam fake reporting you know mainstream media has lost the plot.

In a rare moment, the former Secretary of State under Bush slammed the wall-to-wall coverage of the Russian bounties in Afghanistan story as “almost hysterical”. It’s all the more awkard for MSNBC, which had him on the network Thursday to talk about it, given he’s one of those ‘never Trump’ Bush-era officials, who despite a legacy of having fed the world lie after lie to invade Iraq, has since been given “resistance hero” status among liberals.

Describing that military commanders on the ground didn’t give credence to The New York Times claim that Russia’s GRU was paying Taliban and other militants to kill American soldiers, Powell said the media “got kind of out of control” in the first days after the initial report weeks ago.

Colin Powell politely tells MSNBC that they (& many others) botched the Russian Bounty story w/ “hysterical” coverage. “Our military commanders did not think that it was as serious a problem as the newspapers were reporting & television was reporting… It got almost hysterical.” pic.twitter.com/fue42WlWbv

— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) July 10, 2020

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“I know that our military commanders on the ground did not think that it was as serious a problem as the newspapers were reporting and television was reporting,” Powell told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “It got kind of out of control before we really had an understanding of what had happened. I’m not sure we fully understand now.”

“It’s our commanders who are going to go deal with this kind of a threat, using intelligence given to them by the intelligence community,” Powell continued. “But that has to be analyzed. It has to be attested. And then you have to go find out who the enemy is. And I think we were on top of that one, but it just got almost hysterical in the first few days.”

He also deflated the ongoing manufactured atmosphere which seeks to maintain a perpetual Washington hawkish position vis-a-vis Moscow, based on perceived “Russian aggression”.

A real world consequence of ‘fake news:’ The ratcheting up of military tensions between the two countries with enough nuclear firepower to destroy human civilization. Remember when the majority of people were terrified of stuff like this? pic.twitter.com/zj9Eo01cUm

— Bryan MacDonald (@27khv) July 10, 2020

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“I don’t think we’re in a position to go to war with the Russians,” Powell said. “I know Mr. Putin rather well. He’s just figuring out a way to stay in power until 2036. The last thing he’s looking for is a war, and the last thing he’s looking for is a war with the United States of America.”