‘What In The Name Of All That’s Holy’: NYT Takes A Beating For Headline Highlighting Iran’s ‘Dilemma’

 The New York Times made itself the story with a headline regarding Iran – and Iran-backed terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East – and the supposed “dilemma” that arose from the fact that Israel was actually at war with one of those proxies: Hamas.

“After Years of Vowing to Destroy Israel, Iran Faces a Dilemma,” the headline read. The sub-header that followed added, “With Israel bent on crushing Iran’s ally Hamas, Tehran must decide whether it and the proxy militias it arms and trains will live up to its fiery rhetoric.”

The question the article asked was simple: is Iran’s rhetoric just that — rhetoric — or do the Iranian leaders mean what they say when they chant “Death to Israel” and “Death to America,” and are they willing to risk getting drawn into war themselves?

The author, Iranian-American journalist Farnaz Fassihi, rephrased the “dilemma” in her post on X, saying, “After decades of vowing to destroy Israel, Iran, and its proxy militia known as ‘resistance axis’ face a dilemma to enter a full-scale war or lose face.”

Fassihi also shared an article from two of her NYT colleagues asking a similar question regarding Hezbollah, an Iran-funded proxy operating from Lebanon.

“After years of spoiling for a fight with Israel, Hezbollah is torn between maintaining its credibility as a defender of the Palestinians, and its hesitation to drag Lebanon into a full-scale war,” she captioned the post.

But as National Review’s Noah Rothman pointed out, “What’s the dilemma here exactly?”

“What in the name of all that’s holy is this??” he asked. “What’s the dilemma here exactly? Will its terrorist proxies ‘live up to’ their ‘fiery rhetoric’ by killing many, many more Jews? Like they said they would? WTF?”

“This headline/subhed combo will survive for all of 20 more minutes before someone outside the organization informs the Times that they have all gone insane, so get in on it while the getting’s good,” he added.

 

David Burge, known on X as @IowaHawkBlog, ripped into the NYT headline as well. “NYT: poor beleaguered Iran faces their own heartbreaking Sophie’s Choice.”

Jesus Tapdancing Christ, we are witnessing the New York Times plumb levels of deranged equivocation heretofore unimaginable

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) November 1, 2023

“Jesus Tapdancing Christ, we are witnessing the New York Times plumb levels of deranged equivocation heretofore unimaginable,” he continued. “‘With the allies now in Normandy, Adolf Hitler faces an agonizing dilemma: fight a war on two fronts, or keep his word to exterminate all the Jews?’ NYT headline June 7 1944, probably.”

“The reason you didn’t see NYT headlines like that in 1944 is because in 1944 the NYT didn’t feel it was a good idea to hire half their newsroom from the German American Bund,” he concluded.