tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post114408004200632235..comments2023-11-03T09:36:22.100-04:00Comments on In From the Cold: Tehran's New ToysGeorge Smileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049707648660651119noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-1144100504486408022006-04-03T17:41:00.000-04:002006-04-03T17:41:00.000-04:00While military analysts (such as yourself) look at...While military analysts (such as yourself) look at capability and not intent, Tehran's disclosure may not be aimed at the US military.<BR/><BR/>Rather, after years of having a front row seat to the goings-on in Iraq, they have learned a lot about how the MSM 'works'.<BR/><BR/>A few well placed stories to uninformed reporters will be played over and over back home, raising American's anxiety levels.<BR/><BR/>Thus, while their weapons may have some military utility, their disclosure at this time must be viewed as part of a larger strategy, namely, creating the perception here in the US that Iran is a formidable enemy to be reckoned with.<BR/><BR/>Saddam was a thug and a boistrous loudmouth; his bosts never panned out on the battlefield in the first Gulf War and Americans had some level of familiarity with Saddam. We have no such familiarity with the ruling clerics in Iran. <BR/><BR/>I perceive them to be much more calculating and thoughtful and lethal. Thus, they have every reason to 'prep the rhetorical' battlefield using the MSM as their megaphone and chip away at the US public's appetite for another war.usually mellowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16684212852170769805noreply@blogger.com