Iran’s Hollow Perception of Power

Iran isn’t a military superpower. It is a failed, bankrupt terror state whose only power comes from the perception of its power.

Patriot Retort

Back in August, when I reviewed the HBO miniseries Chernobyl, I shared a quote from one particular scene that I thought was the central point of the series.  After the West learns about the Chernobyl accident, Gorbachev complains to the assembled commission about having to apologize to the West. He tells them, “Our power comes from the perception of our power.”

In other words, the Soviet Union by this point in time, really had no power.  It all depended on the West believing that they did.  It was a perception of power, nothing more.

It was easy for the Soviet Union to present this perception of power to the rest of the world because the USSR was completely closed off from the rest of the world.  We only saw what they wanted us to see.

But then radiation — that invisible poison that doesn’t respect boundaries or borders — left the USSR behind and made itself known to the West.  And the perception of power the Soviets created on was irreparably damaged.

The same can be said for Iran.  Their power comes from the perception of their power.

Why do you think the regime forced people to participate in funeral demonstrations for Qassem Soleimani?

Attention DC politicians, "Iran experts" & Hollywood celebrities:

Innocent Iranian schoolchildren lined up & forced to cry over the killing of the mullahs' mass murderer Qasem Soleimani.

THIS is the filthy mentality of the regime in #Iran.pic.twitter.com/rdOk0AFdRf

— Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) January 6, 2020

Why do you think video of the size and mass of the crowds were transmitted to the West?

The Soleimani funeral videos are jarring/astonishing....Ugh. https://t.co/hD3SuWpuLq

— Tim Miller (@Timodc) January 5, 2020

It’s all about the perception of power – namely, to give the perception of a resolved Iran standing up to the Great Satan in one unified voice.

But it is nothing more than window dressing, play acting — a perception.

But Democrats and their media handmaids are falling for it all hook, line and sinker, aren’t they?

But they’re supposed to. Iran’s power comes from the perception of its power. And Iran knows exactly whom to target to relay this perception.

Why do you think the Ayatollah is using the word “Resistance” in his tweets?

Khamenei knows exactly who his audience is. It is absolutely deliberate.  After all, Iran doesn’t fight it owns battles.  Instead, it enlists proxies to fight the enemy for it.  And in this case, Khamenei is enlisting the American Left with a direct appeal to the “Resistance.”

The saber rattling, the bellicose threats, the bused in crowds forced to “mourn,” it’s all a stage play for the benefit of gullible Westerners.

And those gullible dinks in the news media, the Resistance😆, and the Democrat Party are gobbling up this perception of power like the useful idiots that they are.

So when Khamenei then threatens to restart their nuclear program (that they never stopped to begin with) unless the West eases off sanctions, these gullible westerners wring their hands in fear and demand that the Trump Administration do as Khamenei demands.

But Iran isn’t a military superpower. It is a failed, bankrupt terror state whose only power comes from the perception of its power.

As Daniel Greenfield put it yesterday in his column
“Democrats Defended Soleimani In Life and Death:”

The last time the United States openly fought Iran in 1988, after the attack on the USS Samuel B. Roberts, the sacred terrorists of the Islamic revolution were beaten up and down like a rented mule.

A regional war between Iran and America has been underway ever since their attack on our embassy. The only way that there will be a massive regional war is if the United States decides to fight one.

Iran has chosen to fight a low and dirty war because it stands no chance in an actual fight.

In a thread on Twitter Saturday, Jesse Kelly summed it up nicely.  I’m transcribing it because Jesse’s tweets auto-delete after a while:

Wonder if “World War 3” will happen at the same time as the “genocide of the Kurds”.

Stop listening to the people who are always wrong about everything.

Iran’s military budget is 2% of ours. 2%. There’s no ground war. There will be terror attacks though.

Trump has been open about NOT wanting a war with Iran. This is nothing like the Bush years when it was obvious to anyone they wanted to get Saddam. Iran attacked us several times. We responded. Now they’ll respond. But their response will be terror. It’s all they’ve got.

Iran has terror cells in several countries and they’re putting their heads together as we speak about how to kill Americans in those countries. We’ll harden targets. They’ll undoubtedly land a punch or two. It really won’t be much.

Plus, they’re broke. Our sanctions were crushing them even before this whole dust up. They don’t have the resources for anything beyond terror attacks.

The only, and I mean the ONLY way this gets out of control is if the American war machine can push Trump to war.

The American War Machine being: Neocon senators who swell up at the thought of deployed troops, defense contractors and their campaign donations, and the General/Bureaucrat Brigade whose whole existence is dedicated to war. They’re the only way this turns into a ground war.

We’re fine. Hopefully we’ll keep getting out of Afghanistan and this will all blow over soon. No worries.

But remember, we DID have to respond. You cannot allow someone to violate your embassy and BROADCAST that it was them with no response.

That’s all.