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Remember that stunning video of the Syrian prisoner being freed from his cell and led into the light by CNN’s own Clarissa Ward? 

Well, in case you missed it, here it is again. Prepare to be moved- or possibly shaken- to your very core.

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Wow, what a moment, and how miraculous fake news CNN so happened to be there to capture it. 

The journalism. The art. The performance. The, uh, terror?

Yes, in retrospect, that awe-inspiring tale of freedom and redemption was perhaps a bit less beautiful, considering that prisoner CNN helped free from the throws of oppression, terror, and torture was actually, wait for it…a friggin “alleged” war criminal. 

This was brought to light by independent fact-checkers from Verify-Sy who published an entire report on this last weekend. 

Yes, CNN has really cemented itself as the standard-bearer of fake news with this one, given that the prisoner they so nobly freed has since been identified as Salaam Mohammad Salaam, a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force with a long history of war crimes. 

So, apparently, this majestic oopsie happened because Salama gave them a fake name, Adel Ghurbal, and claimed to be a prisoner of the Assad regime for three months. He told CNN he didn’t know the regime had collapsed and had not seen sunlight for those 3 months in captivity. 

But according to fact-checkers and local residents, Salama is known as “Abu Hamza” and had worked at security checkpoints in the region and was known to be involved in theft, extortion, and coercing residents into becoming informants for Assad. 

Verify-Sy also notes accounts of the man killing civilians during the Syrian Civil War in 2014 and may have even been part of detaining and torturing young men on bogus charges, some for allegedly refusing to pay bribes. 

Locals also said he was in that prison for less than a month, and it was actually not for some noble cause, but rather over a dispute with a high-ranking officer over sharing extorted money. 

No for their part in this theatrical liberation, CNN has denied it was fabricated or set up and has also acknowledged subsequent reports that the man they helped “free” is not who they thought he was and intend to make this into a broader story. 

Yeah, sure. 

CNN’s Clarissa Ward counted the experience as one of the most extraordinary she’s ever witnessed and, albeit for very different reasons, Clarissa, we agree. 

What. A. Moment.

And those are my Final Thoughts.