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Washington Post Casts Doubt on Hersh's 'Crusader' Conspiracy Theory

By Matthew Balan | January 21, 2011 | 17:16

A  A
Matthew Balan's picture

The Washington Post on Friday took on Seymour Hersh's outlandish conspiracy theory that "neo-conservative" members of Opus Dei and the Knights of Malta inside the military "overthrew the American government" and are waging a "crusade" against Muslims. The newspaper reported that, contrary to Hersh's claims, General Stanley McChrystal was not a member of either organization, and that there was "little evidence of a broad fundamentalist conspiracy within the military."

Writer Paul Farhi began his article, "Hersh rebuked on 'crusaders,'" by stating that the journalist for The New Yorker's "latest revelation is drawing some puzzled reactions and angry denunciations." After recounting Hersh's accusations from his recent speech, that he "advanced the notion that U.S. military forces are directed and dominated by Christian fundamentalist 'crusaders' bent on changing 'mosques into cathedrals'" and his accusations against McChrystal and other members of the special operations community, Farhi continued that there "seem to be a few problems with Hersh's assertions," and quoted from the former general's spokesman:

One is his allegation involving McChrystal. A spokesman for McChrystal said the general "is not and never has been" a member of the Knights of Malta, an ancient order that protected Christians from Muslim encroachment during the Middle Ages and has since evolved into a charitable organization. These days, the Knights, based in Rome, sponsor medical missions in dozens of countries. McChrystal's spokesman, David Bolger, said Hersh's statement linking McChrystal to the group was "completely false and without basis in fact."

...Further, Pentagon sources say there is little evidence of a broad fundamentalist conspiracy within the military. Although there have been incidents in which officers have proselytized subordinates, the military discourages partisan religious advocacy.

Later in the article, the Washington Post writer quoted from Hersh himself, who refused to withdraw his accusations and his questionable comment  President Obama:

Seymour Hersh, taken from http://bengalunderattack.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.htmlHersh said Thursday that he couldn't remember every detail of his speech because it was "a rumination" rather than a scripted talk. But, he said, "no one said the whole war was waged as a crusade. My point is that some leaders of the Special Forces have an affinity for that notion, the notion that they're in a crusade.

"I'm comfortable with the idea that there is a great deal of fundamentalism in JSOC. It's growing and it's empirical. . . . There is an incredible strain of Christian fundamentalism, not just Catholic, that's part of the military."

He called his "angry black man" comment about Obama a "figure of speech, a cliche" that his audience, consisting primarily of American expatriates, laughed at. The speech was sponsored by Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, which has a campus in Qatar....

Hersh declined to comment on some of the specific statements he made in the speech, such as the notion that American military officers pass "crusader" coins among themselves. "I said what I said," he responded. "I can't get into it because I'm writing a book" about the small group of neoconservatives who directed U.S. foreign policy in the Bush administration.                                          

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Not only did Hersh double-down on his comments, his publisher at The New Yorker stood by him: "Hersh's editor at the New Yorker, David Remnick, declined to comment on Hersh's speech. But Remnick said, 'Sy is one of the greatest reporters the country has ever known, and that is all I need to know about him.'"

I don't know about "the greatest reporter," but he may have the beginnings for a best-selling novel. Maybe he could consult with Dan Brown.

About the Author

Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Matthew Balan on Twitter.
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Comments

Oh,

Submitted by almostacowboy on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 5:22pm.

If only it were so!

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Hersh

Submitted by jaywl on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 5:48pm.

He has passed the point of no return. He is anti-American-republican-conservative-christian. This idea puts him in the category of just plain assed crazy. On the other hand, maybe he read the book "The Great Crusade" by that zealot Eisenhower and extrapolated it to our response to the attack on our Judeo-Christian society by the fundamentalist Muslim crazy MFers. What will Hersh and fellow travelers say when Hezbollah is given the bomb by Iran and blows up Baltimore via a shipping container ship? And- what will the bewildered Obama think?

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Well, they always have said ...

Submitted by Newsbubba on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 6:31pm.

... that there are no atheists in foxholes.

One can only hope that Hersh is correct.  The group he is alluding to has been fighting  Islam for many centuries, and so far they have been successful.  This is obviously not a time to give up the fight.

Long live the Knights Templar, and their successors..

Comrade Bubba
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I've got one

Submitted by UpNorth on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 6:55pm.

of those "crusader coins".  Ooops, nope, sorry, it's only a coin from the 2/3 Marines, Afghanistan, 2009.  And I hope to get another one from my son  when he returns from this deployment.  Sorry

Sy, you just go on digging, dude, cuz you're on the right track./s  But, he is writing a book...

To re-elect Obama would be like the Titanic backing up and hitting the iceberg again.
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U.S. Crusade

Submitted by Radical1979 on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 7:16pm.

If this government was on a Crusade and used the full power of the U.S. military, Islam in the mideast would be gone, or at least pretty much in the dust. 

Someday we may need to make the decision to try to eradicate Islam before it eredicates us.  At that point it will probably be to late.

Sorry for sounding like Dave.

Proud member of the 53%!
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I remember when Hersh got

Submitted by Evan on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 7:38pm.

I remember when Hersh got into it with Pentagon sources over My Lai.

General Boykin was too open.

Personally, I oppose religious armies.

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Picture Worth A Thousand Words, But One Will Do

Submitted by stratman on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 10:19pm.

Kookoo!

Seymour's office at The New Yorker.  Unfortunately it's not enough to keep Hersh from thinking up batshite like his latest conspiracy.

It also doesn't help when he wears his hat wrong.  (great googley moogley, that is really wrong... on so many levels)

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strat---

Submitted by matthewdean on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 10:59pm.

Hersh's mom will be upset when she sees Hersh's dimples were edited out of his hat shot.

MD

"The credibility of the story is undermined by the selection of sources." - (h/t Jer)
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Egad! Another conspiracy for

Submitted by stratman on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 12:46am.

Egad! Another conspiracy for Hersh to flesh out.

Just be glad the tin foil kept all his freshness locked in.

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Hersh = Loony Toons.

Submitted by acaiguana on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 8:14am.

'nough said.  ACA

...

Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)

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