Glenn Greenwald has some serious issues with the way the mainstream media has reacted to the Paris terrorist attacks, specifically on how eager some reporters seem to be for America to go to war.

On Democracy Now! today, Greenwald condemned the “despicable” interview by two CNN anchors of a Muslim guest before discussing the run-up to the Iraq war and how the Bush administration was “cheered on by the media” and most of the American people in the wake of 9/11.

And, he said, it’s happening again. “The media is trying to stoke that id part of our brain,” Greenwald argued, “and so is the government, to just focus on vengeance and focus on the desire to obliterate, even when it’s not in our interest to do so.”

Greenwald honed in on the reason why the media might be stoking that id too much:

“The American media benefits immensely from war. A huge number of people watch CNN and MSNBC when there are wars. They get to go to war zones and dress up as soldiers, you know, with camouflage flaks, and they embed with the American media. It’s exciting for them. They win awards as part of their career. They feel nationalistic. They feel like they have purpose. Telling people that they’re part of a civilization war and fighting for freedom and democracy, that makes people feel really good, especially journalists. And so, journalists are hungry for war.”

Watch above, via Democracy Now!

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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