Monday, July 21, 2008

Disinformation
By Monica Crowley (bio)

A few days ago, the world’s media reported that Iran had test-fired medium and long-range missiles, capable of reaching Israel and into the heart of Europe. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates addressed the test, though his remarks were cautious. National security and foreign policy experts weighed in on the tests’ meaning. In this space, I wrote that that exercise, along with all of the other provocative and defiant acts by Tehran made Iran the world’s most dangerous state-based threat.

Now it’s being reported that the Iranians orchestrated a fraud: the missile test didn’t happen the way the Iranians had portrayed it and the photos of it were doctored by Iran. Iran is being accused of staging and tweaking the evidence to suggest its missile technology is a lot more accurate and sophisticated than it actually is. The media is also being accused of fanning the flames of this Iranian propaganda.

What is the truth? As with everything related to the Islamic regime in Tehran, it’s impossible to really know. Was this “phony” missile test really phony? Was it a decoy to deflect our attention from other, more nefarious, activities? Was it meant to get us to focus on the missiles rather than the uranium? Was it actually a test for something else, say, the ability to deliver a weapon for an electromagnetic pulse attack? Was it all meant to throw us off the real scent?

The opaque nature of the Iranian regime makes it extremely difficult to read the tea leaves. One thing we do know: the Iranians are wily ones. Clever. Stealthy. Masters of deception. This missile “test” may or may not be disinformation. But there is plenty about Iran’s nuclear and terrorist activity that we do know, and we mustn’t let some Photoshopped pictures take our eye off the ball.

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