Brian Williams Criticized for Calling U.S. Missile Images ‘Beautiful’

Lawrence Yee

Brian Williams has come under fire for his seemingly euphoric reaction to Thursday night’s U.S. missile strike on Syria.

During his “11th hour” MSNBC show, the anchor began to wax poetic at the sight of the Pentagon-released video that showed three missiles launching into the night sky on their way to a Syrian airfield

“We see these beautiful pictures at night from the decks of these two U.S. Navy vessels in the Mediterranean,” Williams said.

The veteran newsman said the images tempted him to quote the late singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen.

And that’s what he did. “I am guided by the beauty of our weapons,” Williams said, a lyric from Cohen’s 1988 song “First We Take Manhattan.” He added, “They are beautiful pictures of fearsome armaments making a brief flight.”

Watch Williams’ segment below.

Twitter quickly pounced on his comments, calling them insensitive to the horrors of war.

“You can support airstrike without glamorizing it,” one critic tweeted.

Some commented on how Williams seem to enjoy the imagery of war.

Others brought up Williams’ six-month suspension from NBC without pay in 2015 for misrepresenting events that occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003, in addition to other stories.

“It’s time for Brian Williams to get fired again,” another tweeted.

Neither MSNBC or Williams have yet to respond to the criticism.

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