I have a lot of accumulated comments so this may be long.
When you choose war as a means of achieving some political objective, you cannot always be sure things will go as planned. This applies to all sides in the current war in Iran. The propaganda and fake news departments on both sides are in overdrive. Here are a few examples:
Some Iranian AI manufactured clips show Israeli PM Netanyahu with six fingers; a truly amateurish error. But they have made others saying Netanyahu has been killed, and that Israeli police minister Ben-Gvir was killed. No one in the West believes this because it is so easily verified. The reports are in English, which makes it unlikely that they were prepared for the Iranian population, even though the regime there has full control over all the media.
The Iranians and their friends have made much of the fact that the Haifa oil refinery was hit. But the details tell another story. The multiple warhead missile {the kind banned for use against civilian targets under international law) was intercepted. One piece of the wreckage did hit the refinery. It caused a small fire that was quickly contained. No serious damage was caused, and NO casualties. Another piece of the wreckage hit a car in a nearby residential neighborhood. Again; no damage or casualties resulted except for the vehicle/
A separate Iranian missile killed 4 Palestinians in a village in Shomron. This hit was barely reported anywhere.
Iran has yet to report on the withdrawal of an American Carrier. There was an accidental fire in the ship’s laundry and the damage requires the ship to head for a repair facility, probably in Japan. It is already en route.
Have you noticed that the media are not reporting much on casualty figures? During the fighting in Gaza this was a regular feature. So far, Israeli casualties are numbered in the tens, but Iranian casualties are in the thousands. Is there some reason the media is avoiding this item?
IDF air attacks have been concentrating on Iranian “checkpoints” on the roads. Israel says that dozens of paramilitary Basenji soldiers manning these roadblocks have been “deserting”. Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration. Basenji members are given special benefits for signing up. This includes free passage through checkpoints when they show their Basenji membership ID card. It also involves free entry to sports events and other cultural performances. It is very likely that these so-called deserters are simply not coming to their scheduled turns at roadblocks to avoid being killed. The loss of privileges is a smaller price than the risk of loss of life.
To be continued.
Wetherhorn 