I'd say the shadow war is real enough. No one can deny that the clown instigations in the middle east and north africa for the last couple of decades were real either, now we have seen the outcomes. gaddafi, mubarak, arab spring, the rise of isis, the invasion of europe, massive looting in iraq under bremer, etc.

So the appearance of external and visible symptoms tells you the underlying actions are present and effective, on the side of good as well as evil.