Chuck Holton
Politics • Culture • News
The Iran Strike Was Theater—But the War Is Real
June 23, 2025
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Just after landing in Newark, New Jersey yesterday, my phone lit up: Iran was launching missile strikes on U.S. bases across the Middle East.

From Qatar to Bahrain, Iraq to Saudi Arabia, sirens sounded. But here’s the kicker: it was all a show. A carefully coordinated performance designed to look like retaliation—without triggering a real war.

Let’s break down what really happened.


 Iran’s "Lame" Attack: A Scripted Show of Force

Multiple credible sources—including the New York Times—have confirmed what I suspected as soon as I saw the headlines: Iran warned both the United States and Qatar hours before launching their missiles.

Bases were evacuated. Air defense systems were on alert. Qatar even shot down five out of six missiles headed its way. One landed harmlessly in the desert. No injuries. No deaths. No serious damage.

Why? Because this wasn’t a real counterattack—it was political theater. Iran needed to “do something” after its nuclear infrastructure was hit hard. But it didn’t want to provoke a full-scale war.

In the words of one regional analyst:

“This was Iran saying, ‘Okay, we retaliated. Now let’s move on.’”


Why This Still Matters

If nobody got hurt, why should we care?

Because this isn’t just about missiles. It’s about messaging—and momentum.

Iran, Russia, and China are experts at information warfare. They know how to craft a narrative, manipulate public opinion, and make Western leaders look weak.

This attack—timed, telegraphed, and deliberately ineffective—makes Iran look like it has bite, without risking escalation. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is caught in an awkward dance, trying to look tough while also coordinating “courtesy warnings” with the enemy.

Let me ask you: Is Iran our enemy, or not?
Because if they are, why are we playing along with this farce?


 The Bigger War You’re Not Seeing

This missile strike is just one front in a much bigger war—a war for your mind.

Social media is flooded with fake MAGA accounts, rage bait, and misinformation. It’s not random. It’s intentional. It’s designed to confuse, divide, and discredit American patriots.

Iran and its allies want chaos. Not just on the battlefield, but in your home, your news feed, and your head.

That’s why we can’t just watch passively anymore. We’ve got to fight smarter.


 Should the U.S. Strike Back?

That’s the million-dollar question. On one hand, this strike was so weak it barely deserves a response. On the other hand, if we don’t respond, we look like we’re in on the joke.

President Trump is reportedly monitoring the situation from the White House. As of now, no retaliation has been ordered.

But the pressure is building.

Israel continues to strike Iranian positions—including roads and access points to Fordow—possibly to prepare for agents on the ground conducting post-strike assessments. Meanwhile, Iran is setting up checkpoints, arresting civilians, and allegedly executing suspected spies.

The regime is feeling the heat. And it’s cracking down.


 What You Can Do

This is not just a news story—it’s a turning point. Here's what I want you to do:

  • Stay informed. Don’t trust the filtered media. Follow real-time sources like Chuck Holton

  • Call out the theater. Don’t let anyone sell you this as “retaliation.” It was coordinated nonsense.

  • Pray. For our troops, our leaders, and for truth to win.

  • Prepare. This isn’t over. It’s just the next chapter.

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5 Years Later: Why the 2020 War Still Haunts My Heart

Today marks five years since the guns fell silent after 44 brutal days of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020. As I sit down to reflect, this anniversary feels more than a date—it stirs memories, scars, and hope. This war wasn’t just another conflict I covered. It touched me personally. I returned to this land with my son Nathan, and here, in Armenia, he met the woman who would become his wife, Rubina. That made the struggle of this small nation deeply personal for my family as well.

 

A Reporter’s Lens: War in the Caucasus

When Azerbaijan launched its offensive on September 27, 2020, the world watched with confusion. This was not a simple border clash. The fighting engulfed Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), pushing Armenian civilians into shelters, raining down bombs on Stepanakert, and scarring historic sites like the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, struck twice in early October.

I traveled there as a war correspondent. I watched children run from collapsing buildings, spoke with mothers clutching their infants in darkness, and heard stories of horrific violence—neighbors beheaded in Hadrut, homes razed, communities erased.

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When Shushi was lost in early November, the strategic heart of the region, hope began to dim. The ceasefire that followed on November 9 solidified a painful reality: Karabakh, once held by Armenians for decades, was now under Baku’s control.

 

Why It Became Personal

I’ve covered wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria. But Armenia is more than a foreign assignment for me. Over time, it became home in my heart.

  • My Son, My Return: I came back to Armenia with Nathan, my boy, to show him a land of resilience, ancient stone churches, and people with stories deeper than any war.

  • Nathan and Rubina: Here, my son met Rubina, the woman who would become his wife. Armenia became part of my family’s story, woven into our future as well as its past.

  • Witnessing Loss in Real Time: I was on the ground, breathing the dust, smelling the smoke, hearing the shells. I saw what this conflict meant to families whose roots here grew centuries deep.

 

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From day one, I heard consistent claims: hospitals, apartment buildings, schools, places of worship were systematically targeted. Ghazanchetsots Cathedral’s shelling was more than collateral damage—it was a symbol. Countless reports confirmed use of munitions with wide-area effects, including cluster bombs, in civilian zones.

One local woman in Hadrut region told me her neighbor was beheaded—his body left on the road as a warning. These stories haunted me. The silence afterward felt complicit.

Even clearly marked press vehicles were struck. Drones tracked us. Some of our team fled shelling zones under fire. We had no illusions. This was part of the message: don’t record, don’t tell, or you, too, will be erased.

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  • Energy & Grid Power: Seizing energy and infrastructure routes was central to the timing of the invasion.

  • Asymmetric Warfare: Drones, electronic warfare, artillery barrages—this was not 20th-century trench war. It was modern brutality.

 

Five Years After: What Has Changed, What Hasn’t

What Changed

  • Territory Lost: Much of Karabakh under Armenian control is now under Baku.

  • Diaspora Wounds: Thousands displaced, heritage sites under threat, memories in danger of being buried.

  • Global Awareness: The world now knows Karabakh is not just a footnote—Armenia’s struggle is visible to those with ears to listen.

What Hasn’t

  • Accountability: There has been zero justice for many war crimes.

  • Repair of Heritage: Churches, monasteries, cemeteries destroyed or vandalized remain inaccessible.

  • True Peace: What pass as “armistice” terms still hold tension, uncertainty, and fear.

My Prayer, My Call

On this 5th anniversary, here’s what I believe:

  • Never forget. Tell the stories. Share the images. Honor the displaced.

  • Stand for justice, not only peace. You cannot build peace on silence.

  • Support Armenian voices—local journalists, families, survivors. They carry truth where conflict lingers.

  • Believe love persists. Amid bombing and rubble, my family found a new connection to this land. Armenia is no longer just a place I covered—it’s part of my family’s heritage through Rubina and Nathan. That bond, in its small everyday form, resists erasure.

If you’ve followed me on this path, you know I don’t believe in hopeless causes. I believe in people resilient enough to rebuild. Five years later, Armenia still stands—not merely because it must, but because it chooses to carry memory forward.

May this anniversary awaken hearts, sharpen dialogue, and demand the world look—not away.

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