Look at the photo. As this ABC story notes, several of the Iranians playing the role of U.S. Navy sailors are overweight, so as to convey that the U.S. itself is flabby and ripe for the taking. The woman is heavily made up (whereas the woman who was actually captured was wearing no makeup), as if to suggest that American women are all sluts. (This was probably the first time a woman was walking around in public with her hair uncovered since 1979; even the real U.S. sailor was forced to wear a head covering while the Iranians had her in captivity. Of course, this “sailor” may be a man dressed as a woman, so as not to circumvent the head covering law.) And one of the “sailors” is holding a tissue up to his face — he is crying, you see: the Americans are weak.
This is the kind of portrayal that countries at war make of their enemies. But this is a war that only one side is fighting.
“Iran Mocks US Sailors in Revolution Day Parade,” by Justin Fishel, ABC News, February 11, 2016:
Marking the 37th anniversary of its Islamic revolution, Iran continued to publicly mock the 10 U.S. sailors its military forces detained in Iranian waters last month.
Groups of shackled Iranian men and at least one woman (many of them overweight) were paraded thought the streets of downtown Tehran as part of the celebration. Dressed in fatigues meant to depict those of U.S. sailors, the men had guns pointed at them while kneeling on the ground with their hands behind their heads. Others were tied together with bags over their heads.
Crowds gathered to watch the mock reenactment of the heavily propagandized Jan. 12 incident. Ten American sailors were detained for roughly 24 hours after their Riverine command boats strayed into Iranian waters near Farsi Island….