MadMen at work, even then.
Yeah, perception is often more important than reality in war.
Though if perception is all you’ve got reality is eventually likely to crush you.
Along those lines, the deadliness of ISIS is almost entirely perception at this point. If an when US or other actual armies decide to, they’ll be crushed in jigtime.
Or, as some Israeli general put it when asked how to build a great army, “Fight Arabs!”
Arabs are often individually brave and efficient fighters. With rare exceptions their culture produces really poor armies.
I read a book by an American who had spent 25 years training, or trying to, Arab armies. He said a sergeant in the US Army would have more individual decision-making authority than a colonel in the Arab armies he’d worked with. This of course paralyzed them in combat.
It is interesting that with the exception of a century or so after Mohammed, ruling groups in the Arab lands have all come from outside: Turks, Kurds, Berbers, Crusaders, Mamelukes, more Turks, Europeans, etc.