With impeachment news burning here at home, we must not lose sight of the fires burning on the streets of Iran. The media will have you believe this is just another Middle East meltdown, when in fact, this is a positive reaction to President Donald Trump’s steps to combat terror. A valuable weapon in the president’s arsenal is proving to be Twitter.
Powerful images are coming out of Tehran as demonstrators are met with violence and tear gas. The protesters rip down posters of Qasem Soleimani, chant anti-regime sentiment, and stand up to a dishonest and malign government.
President Donald Trump has provided a message of support for the “long-suffering” people of Iran, tweeting: “I have stood with you since the beginning of my presidency and my government will continue to stand with you.”
Ivanka Trump took to Twitter to announce, “President Trump’s message in Farsi supporting Iranian protesters is the most like Persian tweet in history of Twitter.”
Meanwhile, the Daily Beast claimed, “Iran Says Trump’s Tweets in Farsi Are a Disgrace to the Language.” This is not only absurd, but I think once again Democrats and those on the far left are disappointed with the positive impact POTUS has had on the Iranian people. I have seen where the president has continued to be attacked for his tweets and unorthodox style of leadership. However, we are seeing great strides by Iranians, Iraqis, Lebanese, and Yemeni who are standing up after decades of domination and threats by Quds Force and the Iranian government.
The president and his administration have put Iran on their heels with sanctions announced by Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as well as the military counter-terrorism strike that left Soleimani and Abu Mehdi al-Muhandis dead.
President Trump not only inherited an appeasement tour over the past administration that strengthen the propaganda/ information warfare campaign by Iran and Russia in the region, but loosened sanctions, and an unfavorably weak perception by people in the Middle East and Persia.This was similar to the nightmare inherited by President Ronald Reagan from former President Jimmy Carter, after a do-nothing policy in Iran.
Now we must look at Iran’s potential responses and how we can defeat their strategies. Iran must demonstrate strength and the ability to maintain control over the people of Iran. They will no doubt do this through violence against their citizens and strategic targeting for kidnap on prominent voices.
Iranian leaders will also look at further promotion of propaganda rhetoric within Iraq and Lebanon using their figure heads such as Hasan Nasrallah (Hezbollah, Lebanon), and Qais Khazali (Popular Mobilization Forces, Iraq). As we witnessed on Iranian state television the Iranian government claimed to have killed 80 Americans on the recent 15 ballistic missile strike on Jan. 8. It’s obvious they did not want to escalate tensions between Tehran and the White House, but rather save face and hope to maintain influence over their followers.They continue to paint the U.S. as occupiers and not protectors of freedom and liberators.
I look for bad actors such as Khazali (PMF), Hadi al-Amiri (Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq) and Hasan Nasrallah to place pressure and plan assassinations on those attempting to support the U.S. Nasrallah “US never want Lebanon to stand on its feet”.This is the type of messaging the U.S. must continue to combat to the Lebanese, Iraqi, and Iranian people to stay out in front of the information warfare.
I encourage the president to continue using Twitter and other mediums to direct U.S. attention. Those who ridicule his use of Twitter need to have another look at its positive impacts.
