Propaganda has always accompanied conflict, but the rapid stream of edited images and slogans circulating online since the Iran confrontation began feels unusually stylized.
The Trump White House has been sharing videos that splice real footage of missile strikes and wreckage with clips from video games, sports broadcasts and action movies. One post overlays actual airstrike footage with music and scenes from the Call of Duty franchise. Another weaves combat footage between home runs and slam dunks from Wii Sports. Other mashups pair explosions with clips from Top Gun, SpongeBob, Braveheart and a scene from Breaking Bad in which a character shouts, “I AM the danger!”
Iranian state outlets have responded with their own dramatized imagery: Lego-like animations featuring minifigure versions of President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu plotting, caricatured Iranian commanders pressing launch buttons, and tiny soldiers and civilians fleeing blazing ruins in animated depictions of Israel, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Chicago Cardinal Blaise Cupich, after seeing the White House material, called it “sickening,” arguing that treating real war and real suffering like a video game can desensitize people, foster addiction to spectacle and erode our shared humanity.
At a briefing, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the posts, saying legacy media should not demand apologies for highlighting “the United States Military’s incredible success,” and that the administration will continue to publicize evidence of Iranian ballistic missile strikes, destroyed production sites and what it says are thwarted nuclear ambitions.
John Vick, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America, said there is a difference between applauding military achievements and “gamifying or making light of war,” which he argued dishonors the sacrifice of Americans who have died.
From my reporting in combat zones and conversations with many U.S. service members and aircrews, I’ve heard profanity, relief and pride after missions. I have never heard troops celebrate the deaths of enemy fighters or civilians; those who have seen war up close understand it is not a game.