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.

George Rebane

We have definitely become bogged down in our prosecution of the Iran war.  As we enter the war’s third week, it is clear that no material progress has been made toward ending the conflict for at least the last seven days.  Iran has successfully hunkered down and continues to launch missiles and drones at any and all regional targets of its choosing.  All we are now told is that we continue to hit military and oil producing targets with great effect that, unfortunately, is neither measurable nor indicative of progress toward the conclusion of hostilities.

Media reporting on the war divides into two distinct camps.  The leftwing media are giddy in their reports of an ‘illegal war with no objectives nor plans for ending it’.  Surprisingly, they are making political hay in their lack of support for the military or its war effort.  News from the field allows them to present the whole affair as the strongest support yet for Trump hatred (aka TDS).  Heady stuff with the approaching primaries.

The rightwing media continue putting the best face on the lack of progress by having their anchors interview an endless stream of Republican congress critters and ‘experts’, most of whom are unknown to the viewers.  And all of whom have nothing new to add to their repetition of the talking points that justify attacking Iran.  Anyone who pays attention can tell that such reports have become self-defeating – most certainly they are not good politicking.

At this point the whole thing has come to a focus on the Strait of Hormuz, the passage through which appears to be completely under Iran’s control.  We are not prepared to risk any of our naval assets to open up the strait, claiming that it would become a “kill zone” for our navy.  Curiously though, we have no problem asking our allies to send their ships to help secure the strait before announcing any plans or timetable to commit our own forces.  Our allies’ reluctance to send their ships is therefore totally understandable.

So what could we posit as reasonable indicators that Iran has been defeated.  Regime change resulting from Iranians massing in the streets would be a robust sign of which there is no hint of coming to pass.  The cessation of Iranian counter attacks on Israel, former gulf allies, and American bases would be another positive development.  The self-exiling of the remnant regime to foreign shores would indicate the beginning of the end.  And finally, the acceptance by the IRGC and related armed militia groups of a new pro-western government would definitely signal a successful end to the Iranian theocracy and its support of global Islamic terrorism.

However, continuing to witness the steady stream of the Democrats’ anti-American and anti-administration propaganda, along with hopeful Republican reports repeatedly vindicating the purpose and progress of the military enterprise, leaves one to conclude that we are at the precipice of another geo-political quagmire.  The time is fast approaching to either defecate or relinquish the receptacle.