Can you explain more directly and with less sarcasm? My interpretation of what you're trying to say doesn't make sense so I might be misunderstanding because of how nuance sometimes gets lost in text communications.

If the US Military isn't trustworthy, shouldn't we be equally skeptical of the colonel's original claim and "journalists" who repeat whatever the air force tells them without any fact checking?

It doesn't make sense to me that we should take the word of one officer (filtered through a reporter) as gospel while saying the other can't be trusted.