I thought I knew about fragging but the reality is I had no idea it was that bad. The “U.S. Forces in Vietnam” section of the Wikipedia page for fragging has some stuff that’s sobering and/or unintentionally funny.
In the Vietnam War, the threat of fragging caused many officers and NCOs to go armed in rear areas and to change their sleeping arrangements as fragging often consisted of throwing a grenade into a tent where the target was sleeping.
During the Iraq War the American military masterfully controlled the narrative. Concepts like “embedded” became part of pop culture. Very few corpses ever made it on the news. It was an antiseptic war. It was war as a video game. I’m not in the mood to read it now but I’ll definitely read the “The Collapse of the Armed Forces” later. It didn’t occur to me that a full scale invasion of Iran could be like the Vietnam War on steroids.
In other words - due to our digital war - losses, setbacks, fuck-ups are going to known very quickly to the public and to the troops themselves. If there’s such a war - the mood of the public and the troops could sour extremely fast. Footage of captured American troops could be shown on the internet by the end of the day. Iranian footage of an overrun American position indicating a massively humiliating loss will be too.
Trump and Hegseth will actually believe they can create an Iraq War 2.0. That’s not possible for myriad reasons. Plus - of course - they’re foolish, stupid, and delusional. Everything they do will make things even worse.
This might be the first war where the US lost narrative control from the very start. Everybody knew this was an unprovoked war of aggression. Iran masterfully combated US propaganda, and thanks to social media, they actually have reach in the west as well. I get the impression that American propagandists still haven’t really caught up with the whole social media thing. They continue to focus on the traditional media, but nobody under 50 consumes it as their primary source of news anymore. I think there was a lot of shock that they couldn’t control the narrative on Gaza, and haven’t really figured out what to do about it yet.
I think there was a lot of shock that they couldn’t control the narrative on Gaza, and haven’t really figured out what to do about it yet.
I’m surprised that Tiktok hasn’t already become a blatant propaganda tool for the military and for Trump. CNN’s impending sale is interesting too. Once the Ellisons control it - I assume it’s going to become a 24/7 pro-Trump network.
I thought I knew about fragging but the reality is I had no idea it was that bad. The “U.S. Forces in Vietnam” section of the Wikipedia page for fragging has some stuff that’s sobering and/or unintentionally funny.
if there’s a full scale invasion of Iran, that could definitely create similar conditions
During the Iraq War the American military masterfully controlled the narrative. Concepts like “embedded” became part of pop culture. Very few corpses ever made it on the news. It was an antiseptic war. It was war as a video game. I’m not in the mood to read it now but I’ll definitely read the “The Collapse of the Armed Forces” later. It didn’t occur to me that a full scale invasion of Iran could be like the Vietnam War on steroids.
In other words - due to our digital war - losses, setbacks, fuck-ups are going to known very quickly to the public and to the troops themselves. If there’s such a war - the mood of the public and the troops could sour extremely fast. Footage of captured American troops could be shown on the internet by the end of the day. Iranian footage of an overrun American position indicating a massively humiliating loss will be too.
Trump and Hegseth will actually believe they can create an Iraq War 2.0. That’s not possible for myriad reasons. Plus - of course - they’re foolish, stupid, and delusional. Everything they do will make things even worse.
This might be the first war where the US lost narrative control from the very start. Everybody knew this was an unprovoked war of aggression. Iran masterfully combated US propaganda, and thanks to social media, they actually have reach in the west as well. I get the impression that American propagandists still haven’t really caught up with the whole social media thing. They continue to focus on the traditional media, but nobody under 50 consumes it as their primary source of news anymore. I think there was a lot of shock that they couldn’t control the narrative on Gaza, and haven’t really figured out what to do about it yet.
I’m surprised that Tiktok hasn’t already become a blatant propaganda tool for the military and for Trump. CNN’s impending sale is interesting too. Once the Ellisons control it - I assume it’s going to become a 24/7 pro-Trump network.
yeah that’s what I’m expecting too