Applebaum checks the standard neocon boxes and been a member of standard nat sec talking points laundering cutouts - Carnegie, WaPo, The Atlantic, etc. Some of us have not forgotten those who cheered on the Iraq war based on lies that led to a million people dead, displaced or maimed. Applebaum cheered on every single war in the name of democracy. So yes, her grandstanding about democracy and propaganda does not pass muster among well informed people.