You seem sincerely misled. If you consult more reliable sources, you can cut past the propaganda machine, on this and on other topics.

There has always been plenty of money available to people willing to seek to mislead you in this way. It is absolutely legal to publish falsehoods, even in what looks like legitimate media. People who lie to you about X will happily lie to you about Y.

It is embarrassing to learn you have allowed yourself to be misled, but they are often very, very good at it. The US was fooled into invading Iraq, as in previous wars.