The media was complicit

This movie may have been a Hollywood political thriller, but it managed to attack multiple targets. One of them being the media. Amy Ryan plays a reporter who willingly followed the Bush Administration line about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. No critical thinking was involved, as the "rock solid" intelligence is swallowed whole. Many media outlets chose to be mouth pieces for the White House. Matt Damon's character realises that he has been lied to, with the media acting as willing accomplices.