From propaganda about destroyed schools to pressure campaigns targeting Britain, the struggle to control global opinion has become as important as the fighting itself.
Now I feel smart. I recently posted something similar to FB.
A number of friends have posted about the school bombing in Iran. It speaks to the goodness of their hearts that they ache for the pain felt by the parents who have lost children and the children who have either had their lives cut too short or who have been injured; innocents who were caught in the crossfire of political battles by those who will likely suffer little.
But these posts bother me and I've struggled to understand why. Here's what I came up with.
The unquestioning acceptance of the reports. Iranian media has been the only source. One can recognize that it happened and even that either the US or Israel were responsible (some are arguing that Iran was itself responsible for propaganda purposes, I'm not) while also questioning the framing. But that's not what's happened. Instead, people argue either that the school was deliberately targeted or that intention doesn't matter and they ignore the Iranian regime's actions toward its own people and their destabilizing effect on the region at large and not just Israel, btw. MBS (Saudi Arabia) and MBZ (UAE) both actively encouraged US action. For that matter, Iran is actively supportive of Russia and its war with Ukraine.
Intention doesn't matter to those directly affected by the tragedy. It matters a lot when you then make accusations about legal responsibility. Context also matters. Both are ways in which people's innate goodness is weaponized by others as a form of domestic warfare, propaganda warfare. They are like magicians who, with sleight of hand, tell you to look at what they're actively showing you while hiding something important elsewhere.
In many ways, responsibility in war is a "yes, and" proposition.
Were either Israel or the US responsible for bombing the school?
Yes, and so was the Iranian regime for breaking international law and building the school next to a military installation as a human shield.
**Based on The Guardian's analysis, this is less likely to be true. There were clear attempts to distinguish the school from the adjacent military buildings.
Do the deaths and maiming of innocents automatically increase the illegitimacy of a war and the governments that are responsible for the attack?
Yes, and one can mourn while acknowledging that the Iranian regime has rendered itself utterly illegitimate by the many ways it has brutalized, maimed, and murdered its own people.
Should one doubt the motives of the attackers and recognize the many ways in which they have broken both international law and, in the case of the US, domestic law?
Absolutely. And, one can still hope the attack provides an opportunity for other innocent Iranians to free themselves from a murderous regime that has far more blood on its hands, blood of those it was tasked with protecting.
When one expresses only one half of the equation, when you oversimplify the moral math, you run the risk of becoming a mouthpiece for the regimes rather than a supporter of those who suffer most from such repressive, brutal regimes.
I am only one way but thank you for your descriptions of different war narratives but i have absolutely zero respect for the irgc and anyone above them or supports them.
Something strange is happening in the information war. Young Americans defending regimes like the Islamic Republic of Iran that jail protesters, strip women of rights and execute people for being gay. Self-described patriots on the right suddenly echoing narratives that benefit a country like Russia — which is openly hostile to the United States. How does that happen? Not through tanks or missiles. Post by post, people get pulled into camps that don’t actually serve their own country or their own values. They become pieces on a chessboard in a GRAY WAR — a conflict fought with information instead of bullets. And most people don’t even realize they’re part of it. The battlefield isn’t overseas anymore — it’s in your feed.
Now I feel smart. I recently posted something similar to FB.
A number of friends have posted about the school bombing in Iran. It speaks to the goodness of their hearts that they ache for the pain felt by the parents who have lost children and the children who have either had their lives cut too short or who have been injured; innocents who were caught in the crossfire of political battles by those who will likely suffer little.
But these posts bother me and I've struggled to understand why. Here's what I came up with.
The unquestioning acceptance of the reports. Iranian media has been the only source. One can recognize that it happened and even that either the US or Israel were responsible (some are arguing that Iran was itself responsible for propaganda purposes, I'm not) while also questioning the framing. But that's not what's happened. Instead, people argue either that the school was deliberately targeted or that intention doesn't matter and they ignore the Iranian regime's actions toward its own people and their destabilizing effect on the region at large and not just Israel, btw. MBS (Saudi Arabia) and MBZ (UAE) both actively encouraged US action. For that matter, Iran is actively supportive of Russia and its war with Ukraine.
Intention doesn't matter to those directly affected by the tragedy. It matters a lot when you then make accusations about legal responsibility. Context also matters. Both are ways in which people's innate goodness is weaponized by others as a form of domestic warfare, propaganda warfare. They are like magicians who, with sleight of hand, tell you to look at what they're actively showing you while hiding something important elsewhere.
In many ways, responsibility in war is a "yes, and" proposition.
Were either Israel or the US responsible for bombing the school?
Yes, and so was the Iranian regime for breaking international law and building the school next to a military installation as a human shield.
**Based on The Guardian's analysis, this is less likely to be true. There were clear attempts to distinguish the school from the adjacent military buildings.
Do the deaths and maiming of innocents automatically increase the illegitimacy of a war and the governments that are responsible for the attack?
Yes, and one can mourn while acknowledging that the Iranian regime has rendered itself utterly illegitimate by the many ways it has brutalized, maimed, and murdered its own people.
Should one doubt the motives of the attackers and recognize the many ways in which they have broken both international law and, in the case of the US, domestic law?
Absolutely. And, one can still hope the attack provides an opportunity for other innocent Iranians to free themselves from a murderous regime that has far more blood on its hands, blood of those it was tasked with protecting.
When one expresses only one half of the equation, when you oversimplify the moral math, you run the risk of becoming a mouthpiece for the regimes rather than a supporter of those who suffer most from such repressive, brutal regimes.
Thank you for describing the different war narratives and talking points.
We greatly appreciate your work.
I am only one way but thank you for your descriptions of different war narratives but i have absolutely zero respect for the irgc and anyone above them or supports them.
Appreciate the honest reporting and just giving us facts and your analysis of those facts. Forwarding this to others!
Thank you!
Van Jones Video…appropriate to your thread.
https://x.com/i/status/2029660181202673908
https://x.com/VanJones68
https://x.com/VanJones68
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https://x.com/VanJones68/status/2029660181202673908
Something strange is happening in the information war. Young Americans defending regimes like the Islamic Republic of Iran that jail protesters, strip women of rights and execute people for being gay. Self-described patriots on the right suddenly echoing narratives that benefit a country like Russia — which is openly hostile to the United States. How does that happen? Not through tanks or missiles. Post by post, people get pulled into camps that don’t actually serve their own country or their own values. They become pieces on a chessboard in a GRAY WAR — a conflict fought with information instead of bullets. And most people don’t even realize they’re part of it. The battlefield isn’t overseas anymore — it’s in your feed.
It is certainly hard not to be pulled one way or another but I do try to follow a steady course!