Washington Post Reporter Lectures the War Department, Then Deflects When Shown To Be Incorrect

Brad SlagerAug 17th, 2026, 2:50 pm
 
USS Abraham Lincoln

File photo, Anat Givon/AP Photo

Currently, the press has been in a frothing boil over the morale on the USS Abraham Lincoln, and the hardships sailors are enduring. The Washington Post has been among the outlets energetically covering the criticisms of the lengthy deployment for the Iran War leading to adverse onboard conditions and the mental health of sailors.

As the speculation has swirled, there was an exchange between Washington Post military affairs correspondent Dan Lamothe and Sean Parnell, Chief Pentagon Spokesman and Senior Advisor to Secretary Pete Hegseth. It is a lesson in how the facts are not always preeminent with the media regarding this administration.

Parnell was commenting as a follow-up to a post made by Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao about what the sailors are experiencing. While he affirmed there are challenges being faced with a lengthy wartime deployment, he also mentioned this was not at all an unusual combat reality and cited his own military experience with similar conditions.

This sparked a response from Lamothe, which read, “Sean, a suggestion: If you want well-rounded stories of rank-and-file troops told well, you need to put real, independent journalists alongside them on occasion. Embeds. Embarks. Visits, at least. Not everything comes through on Instagram. V/R, Someone who has done this work.”

His “very respectfully” sign-off being compromised by his snide comment aside, Lamothe would have been aided in doing maybe a modicum of research before responding to Parnell. He may not have come off looking like someone operating on assumptions alone, as it turned out was the case.

The official account from the Department of War responded to Lamothe with a helpful dose of news. It turned out a reporter had not only been embedded with our military recently, but one had done so on board the very embattled ship in question, the USS Abraham Lincoln. It was covered on CNN – just one month ago.

How did the Washington Post military correspondent respond to this revelation? By deflecting to an experience he had, down at the border. We have to guess Lamothe somehow felt he countered the direct action he called for, being shown to have recently taken place. Moreover, it took place on the very carrier at the center of media hysteria.

Reports of attempted suicides by jumping overboard, diminished supplies, and other support problems have been widespread in the news, but as usual it has taken a while for the facts to catch up to the speculation. The implication is always that the administration is lax in its support, but the details have been slow in coming.

The numerous man-overboard instances claimed? CNN reports that one incident took place. As for the supplies running low, it is not neglect, but the problem is that the main supply port was under drone threat by Iran. As a result, the supplies have to arrive from the more remote port of Diego Garcia, out in the Indian Ocean.

But to really get a sense of what is taking place here, understand that the condition of the sailors is not the priority. It is registering a hit against the administration. It was not so long ago that the complaint in the press was that the military was spending too much money on food for soldiers.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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