Debunked and Confirmed: Myths and Realities from the Iran War

Israeli priorities shape US Middle East policy as Washington aligns with Tel Aviv despite rising domestic opposition. (Illustration: Palestine Chronicle)

The war on Iran has not merely opened a new military front in the Middle East. It has shattered long-standing myths that have shaped US policy and regional politics for decades. What has unfolded in the past days is not simply a battlefield confrontation; it is a historical rupture.

Several narratives that once appeared unassailable have collapsed under the weight of reality. At the same time, theories long dismissed as ideological or exaggerated have been confirmed with startling clarity.

The Myth of American Protection

For decades, Washington has portrayed itself as the ultimate guarantor of regional security. US military bases, aircraft carriers, air defense systems and bilateral security agreements were marketed as shields protecting allies from existential threats.

This war has exposed that promise as hollow.

Despite overwhelming US military presence across the Gulf, regional allies have faced missile alerts, drone incursions and maritime threats. American troops themselves have been killed. Energy infrastructure has been threatened. Shipping routes have been destabilized.

The presence of American forces has not prevented escalation; it has invited it.

More importantly, the nature of US presence has been exposed. It is not rooted in partnership but in dominance. Yet even dominance has proven illusory. Military superiority does not automatically translate into strategic control. When a regional power like Iran chooses to retaliate asymmetrically, the illusion of total American command evaporates.

The Failure of “Containment”

For years, US policymakers framed Iran as a state that could be isolated, sanctioned and gradually weakened under a prolonged containment strategy. The assumption was that Tehran would remain strategically boxed in.

That assumption has now collapsed.

Iran has demonstrated that it possesses both the capacity and the willingness to disrupt the entire regional order if pushed to the brink. Missile capabilities, regional alliances and maritime leverage give Tehran tools that extend far beyond its borders.

Containment presumes passivity. Iran has proven anything but passive.

This reality carries a fundamental implication: Iranian rights, interests and security concerns cannot simply be dismissed. A sustainable regional order cannot be built on the permanent marginalization of one of its central actors.

The Illusion of Israeli “Regional Protection”

Normalization agreements were sold as a new architecture of stability. Israel was presented as a technological, military and intelligence power capable of protecting its new Arab partners from regional threats.

The events of recent years — from the genocide in Gaza to the widening regional war — have dismantled that narrative. Israel has not stabilized the region. It has destabilized it.

Its wars have drawn neighboring countries into cycles of violence. Its confrontations have triggered regional escalation. The notion that Israel could serve as a security umbrella for Gulf states now appears deeply flawed.

Instead of becoming a regional protector, Israel has become a catalyst for broader conflict.

The Alignment Miscalculation

The United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states were told that full alignment with Washington and Tel Aviv would ensure security and prosperity.

Yet news reports now suggest widespread anxiety among residents. In Dubai, expatriates reportedly scrambled in mass numbers to leave amid fears of regional escalation.

Security cannot be outsourced. Total alignment with external powers does not immunize states from regional consequences. On the contrary, it can entangle them in conflicts not of their choosing.

The promise that alignment equals safety has proven dangerously simplistic.

The End of the Post-Iraq Order

Since the invasion of Iraq, Washington operated under a strategic formula: permanent military bases, rigid regional divisions between “allies” and “adversaries,” and unconditional support for Israel.

That model is now under strain, to say the least.

Permanent bases have become targets. The binary division of the region has produced polarization rather than stability. Blind support for Israeli military adventures has entangled Washington in repeated crises.

The post-Iraq order was never sustainable. The war on Iran may have finally exposed its fragility.

What the War Has Confirmed

If myths have collapsed, certain realities have been unmistakably confirmed.

Israeli Influence Over US Policy

The war has laid bare the decisive role Israel plays in shaping US Middle East policy. Washington’s rationale for entering and sustaining the conflict has extended little beyond reflexive alliance language, offering no coherent strategic explanation that stands independently of Israeli priorities.

At a time when public opposition to another Middle Eastern war remains strong across the United States, American policy has nevertheless aligned almost seamlessly with Israeli strategic objectives. This is not a coincidence. It reflects a structural reality.

The persistent disconnect between public sentiment and policy outcomes exposes a hard truth: US foreign policy in the Middle East is not primarily driven by democratic consensus. It is shaped by entrenched political alignments, institutional commitments, and powerful lobbying networks that anchor Washington firmly to Israel’s regional agenda.

Congressional and executive backing for escalation has remained firm despite widespread domestic fatigue with foreign wars. The calculations driving this support are political, not popular. Electoral financing, lobbying influence, and long-standing strategic entanglements outweigh the preferences of a war-weary electorate.

For years, analysts have argued that Israeli influence over US policy is profound. The war on Iran has transformed that argument from theory into observable reality.

Iran’s Military Capacity

Iran was widely portrayed as weaker than it truly is. The expectation in some Western circles was that swift decapitation strikes would paralyze the state.

Instead, Iran has demonstrated substantial military capability. It has retaliated with precision and scale. It has threatened shipping lanes. It has activated regional alliances.

This does not mean Iran is invincible. But it does mean that assumptions of easy dominance were deeply flawed.

Institutional Resilience

Perhaps most strikingly, Iran’s political system did not collapse following targeted assassinations of senior leadership figures.

This confirms a critical reality: Iran is a state built on institutions, not solely on personalities. The killing of top leaders did not produce chaos or fragmentation. Instead, state structures adapted.

The expectation of immediate internal disintegration proved misguided.

The Durability of Regional Alliances

Iran’s allies — including Hezbollah — remain consequential actors.

Despite setbacks and strategic calculations, these groups continue to shape regional outcomes. They have not been neutralized. They have not disappeared.

The regional balance of power cannot be understood without acknowledging their continued presence.

The Myth of “America First”

Finally, the war has exposed the emptiness of the “America First” slogan.

Intervention in Iran, continued hostility toward Venezuela, and sustained military entanglements demonstrate that US foreign policy remains anchored in global projection of power.

The rhetoric of restraint was politically useful. The policy of intervention continues.

A Turning Point

The war on Iran may ultimately be remembered less for territorial shifts and more for intellectual ones.

It has shattered myths about American protection, Israeli regional guardianship, Gulf immunity, and Iranian weakness.

It has confirmed deeper truths about institutional resilience, regional power dynamics, and the persistence of interventionist policy in Washington.

History does not change overnight. But when long-standing narratives collapse under the weight of events, a turning point emerges.

This war may well be that moment.

– Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of eight books. His latest book, ‘Before the Flood,’ was published by Seven Stories Press. His other books include ‘Our Vision for Liberation’, ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The Last Earth’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net