Authoritarian countries churn out propaganda giving their people, and outside observers, the perception that they’re in charge, provide better security, and can handle terrorist threats better than democracies. But these undemocratic countries can’t stop such attacks, even when warned by Americans about the terrorists. Instead, they blame the U.S. and its allies, instead of the true ISIS-K perpetrators, preferring to settle old scores rather than confront the truth. Now the USA had better focus on preparing ourselves for being next on ISIS-K’s list of terror attack sites.

On January 4, 2024, two bomb blasts killed more than 80 Iranians and wounded nearly 300. Immediately, “Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi blamed Israel for the explosions, saying it will pay a ‘heavy price.’” According to CNN “‘I warn the Zionist regime, do not doubt that you will pay a heavy price for this crime and the crimes you have committed,” Raisi said in a televised speech from Tehran. Raisi, who is the head of the Iranian government, warned that Israel’s punishment will be ‘regrettable and severe.’”

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in Georgia. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His Twitter account is @JohnTures2.