George Rebane

The Democrats are winning the Iran propaganda war hands down in the lamestream media and in the polls.  Their daily anti-American, anti-Trump screeds have successfully convinced over half of our population that the war was ill-conceived, and is being poorly executed with no clear objectives to be achieved.  That none of this is true does not matter, it is how the Left’s leadership – e.g. Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, et al – expertly interpret the war news to their favor that carries the day.

For their part, the Republicans and conservative media mavens are trying to put the best face on the daily war news out of the White House.  Some, like economist Larry Kudlow, organize daily happy dances on Fox Business, celebrating the administration’s reports of more Iran’s leaders killed, missile launchers destroyed, and other military facilities laid to waste.  In sum, we have defeated Iran, eliminated the leading sponsor of world terrorism, and secured the world from the threat of an imminent rogue nuclear power.

But it doesn’t take much to read between the lines and see what’s really going on around the Persian Gulf.  No matter the levels of destruction cited, Iran has increased its attacks on Israel and now on its nearby Arab oil producing neighbors.  It has successfully shut down the Hormuz Strait and now determines which ships it allows passage.  On the diplomatic front Iran continues issuing demands and conditions for cessation of hostilities that are off-the-wall and outrageous.  On its home front, it is able to suppress all opposition with its murderous militia thugs who have an established reputation of killing tens of thousands of protesting Iranian citizens.  The streets are quiet as people fear going into the streets.

President Trump’s assurances to support an Iranian regime change by its people have so far convinced no one.  And our inability to open Hormuz is noted by the whole world and reflected in the behavior of its security markets and the soaring price of oil.  It is clear that counting nuclear carriers, assault ships, number of Marines on station, and the thousands of sorties flown to date has had little impact on Iran’s capacity to continue dictating the course and intensity of the conflict.

And with the upcoming elections, our Democrats are making hay from all of this, while the Republicans’ response sounds more hollow with each passing day, with no clear evidence that Iran is really on the verge of collapse militarily or of a popular uprising of its people..  And we Americans see all this and understand when the administration’s war news is nothing but meaningless statistics that have yet to bear on what is happening on the ground.  Simply put, both our political sides are engaged in a propaganda war that the Left is winning.