Sources: U.S., Israel Under Total Wartime Censorship of Reports on War with Iran

March 8—Sources in the U.S. intelligence community report that the Israeli and American populations have been denied access to critical reporting on the ongoing war with Iran. These sources say that a total wartime censorship regime went into effect with the start of operations against Iran Feb. 28; a similar operation was already underway in Israel.

The intention, these sources say, is deny and limit access to reports and video or photographic depictions of the effect of Iranian strikes on Israeli cities and military and other facilities, as well as attacks on American bases and of strikes in neighboring states such as Oman, the Gulf states and Bahrain.

This censorship includes reporting by media, but there is also an effort to shut down or limit social media posts, which is done through hacking and other measures, which might contradict "official reporting."

Iran's Strikes Have Devastating Results

The intelligence sources report that Iranian strikes have been far more effective and devastating then official American and Israeli sources will admit and have done far greater damage than has been admitted. The Iranians, these sources report, have "fairly accurate" assessments of the effects of the strikes. The sources say that if Americans and Israelis actually knew the real state of the war, it would have a "profound psychological impact," that could lessen support for what is an unusually unpopular war.

"If you want to know what is going on with this war," said a source, "you need to turn to social media, as the regular media won't be telling the truth. Israel has been hit hard, with whole areas of cities, whole neighborhoods, destroyed, including where military and intelligence facilities are located. There has been significant destruction on U.S. bases. What has also been surprising is the accuracy of Iranian guidance and targeting, as well as the numbers of drones and missiles that have made it through defenses."

"I also would not believe any of the official discussion of what the Iranians have left to fire at Israel or American targets," said another source. "I don't think that they have a clue where all of these are located, including the launchers. But if you can say certain things 'officially' then an acceptable outcome to the war seems more plausible."

Is Trump Told the Truth?

One of the major pieces of disinformation that is "officially" circulated and then passed on through the media, under the censorship regime, is the estimated size of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Israeli and American press have generally put their numbers at "around 200,000." Intelligence specialists who are not allowed to be quoted put their numbers at between 2 and 4 million, all highly trained, and capable of decentralized or mass deployment.

"And these are the people that President Donald Trump is mooting putting U.S. forces on the ground to fight?" said a source. "One prays that someone is giving him the uncensored truth about this."