America gaslights to China's delight
Gaslighting has reached a new peak on Iran, on Trump, on everything
The biggest casualty of this Iran war is the truth. We’ve flayed it, slaughtered it, tortured it, and obliterated truth to the point where it’s hard to separate out who is lying and who is amplifying lies from those doing their best to tell the truth in the fog of war.
I’ve seen more coverage of the young victims of a girl’s elementary school in southern Iran that was hit by some kind of munition in the New York Times than I saw of the thousands who were slaughtered in the streets by the Islamic Republic’s regime, which used machine guns against civilian protesters. I’ve seen people I trust spreading the story that the school was actually hit by an Iranian missile that failed on launch. From what I’ve seen, that version is debunked. I don’t know who hit the school, and I don’t believe the Iranian officials, or the Israelis or the U.S. at this point.
However, I will say it’s more likely a regime that has killed between 30,000 and 80,000 of its own citizens in the last few months is more capable and likely to set up a story like this (with real deaths) than the U.S. or Israel is likely to target a school. On the other hand, there is evidence that points to a missile or aircraft attack on an adjacent IRGC target. The problem is that many people reporting are saying they know the truth, and they don’t.
Listen, it’s a tragedy. I don’t want little girls at an elementary school to perish in war any more than I want protesters to die in the streets of Tehran. But there are some things we’ve seem to have forgotten and many people are gaslighting, or just outright lying, or nuts, as Douglas McGregor as a guest on Matt Gaetz’s show on OAN. McGregor said, on air, and seriously:
“All of our bases have been destroyed. Our harbor installations are destroyed. We actually have to fall back on India and Indian ports which is less than ideal. And I think Iran, much to our disappointment, is faring very very well.”
No, Iran is not faring well. There are obvious truths that don’t need a whole lot of reporting to be believed.
The U.S. has deployed B-52 bombers over Iran. Not stealth, not fast. These are the bombers that carpet bombed Iraqi troop positions in the first gulf war, leading to mass surrenders when the ground operation finally began. The B-52s are not carpet-bombing as some claim. They are launching precision munitions aimed at selected regime targets. The appearance of B-52s (versus the B-2 or B-1, which are also operating) means the U.S. has achieved air supremacy over certain areas.
Iran hit a AN/FPS-132 early warning radar in Qatar. Does that “blind” us? Well, for the purpose of that radar, which is linked to THAAD and other defensive systems, I suppose its data will be missed. Is it expensive? Yes. Is it the only key system we are using? No, and anyone who claims otherwise is gaslighting.
Americans knew, including Congress, that this buildup would lead to hostilities, for a long time. It took months for the military to move the assets in place. It was not done in secret. Everyone could see the fighters, bombers, refueling aircraft, transports, ships, and logistics tail moving into position to strike Iran. Yet people claim as if Trump did a war out of thin air.
If Congress wanted to prevent Trump from making war against Iran, it could have voted to stop this by yanking authorization and funding. But Congress didn’t do that. There’s gaslighting about the power of the president to strike Iran.
The War Powers Resolution of 1972 does not require an AUMF from Congress for short-term operations, until the 60-day mark. The Trump administration complied with the law by notifying Congress (the “gang of eight”) in advance of the strike. The White House submitted a report to Congress within the 48-hour window (it says) and has briefed members of Congress.
Congress can and will take up the issue of authorizing the operation. They can, at any time, yank funding, or limit the president’s war powers for an ongoing operation.
The United States would not commit the bulk of its operational air force and missile capabilities to one country and deplete our stocks to dangerous levels, would we? I don’t know how many of which missile type we have, but I doubt we only have enough for a few weeks of maximum tempo war with a nation that doesn’t meet “near-peer” status. Anyone who says we are running out of missiles is gaslighting.
Iran’s limiting factor is not the number of missiles it has, but the number of operational launchers. The longer the U.S. and Israel loiter over Iranian airspace (which is large, think Alaska), the less launchers the Iranians have.
Iran possesses thousands of drones, and these can launch from all kinds of locations. Drone swarms are dangerous and are likely the biggest source of death and destruction Iran can deal against this attack. We will continue to see losses from drones, but it’s less likely they can threaten major bases or our aircraft carriers (which have extensive capabilities to fight drone swarms).
Anyone who claims that the Iranians are holding back to destroy us with massive drone strikes is gaslighting.
Many Iranians are celebrating our attacks on the Islamic Republic’s facilities. America is not seen as an attacker by these Iranians, but as a liberator. Anyone who characterizes Iranians as opposed to our attacks (and even Israel’s attacks) is gaslighting. Why do you think the regime just killed tens of thousands of Iranians?
The Islamic Republic is not a good faith negotiating partner. Anyone who claims they can be trusted to keep an agreement to not pursue a nuclear weapon is gaslighting.
Online and on the news, pundits and news hounds are talking like we went into Iran and are now searching for someone to go in on the ground, like the Kurds (who we formerly betrayed) and take over the country. I don’t know what kind of plan the administration has for post-Khameini Iran, but I believe it doesn’t include dealing with more hard-liners. Anyone who becomes Iran’s new Supreme Leader under the Islamic Republic is automatically marked for assassination by the Israelis.
Israel and the U.S. have different interests in this war, but on Iran, we have a confluence of interests in seeing the regime fall. America’s interests are aligned with stripping China from a supply of cheap oil, and Russia from a weapons production partner. Taking Venezuela and Iran off China’s axis is a strategic win for America. I don’t know if Trump is looking at it this way, but people like John Bolton are. Israel’s interests are obvious. One nuke from Iran would destroy their country.
Behind all the gaslighting, we see a pattern. The CCP funds groups that protest the Iran war. Russia funds both sides of our radical political horseshoe. Both China and Russia fund and back gaslighting. So you have Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens and the crew over at OAN, who are titularly in the MAGA camp, acting in Iran’s interest, because China and Russia are not interested in truth as much as spreading every possible lie.
What Israel has done to Iran and Hezbollah, sowing paranoia though massive intelligence penetration, China and Russia are doing to the U.S., by turning everyone into fact-deniers and agents of gaslighting. People who were once for Trump are against him for the Iran attack. And people who would gladly take the win in liberating Iranians from a totalitarian nightmare side with the mullahs because it’s Trump doing the freeing.
All the strategic moves and military spectacle the U.S. is displaying will not win a long-term war with China. And we are in one. Sowing internal social chaos is a domain of war. As we gaslight, China watches with delight. As Texas splits more radical right and left, and California enacts punishing gerrymandering to counter red states doing the same thing, China benefits from our coming paralysis and inability to govern.
Trump made war. Congress has the full authority to end it or have stopped it before it began. They didn’t because they are paralyzed by the gaslit public they depend on to elect them. Congress could stop Trump but they won’t (that’s my bet). This operation will be over by the time the November elections come about. I don’t know how it will end, but Trump will claim a great victory, and Congress will probably do nothing.
The next Congress will be able to even less than this one, but the gaslighting will increase even more. If it ever comes to war with China, open military action, be prepared for us to freeze in our tracks. The gaslighting is their initial salvo in that war, and given what I’m seeing in the Iran operation, they must be very pleased.
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