The dry and the wet burn together: On the war against Iran(lrb.co.uk)
lrb.co.uk
The dry and the wet burn together: On the war against Iran
https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/march/the-dry-and-the-wet-burn-together
2 comments
It’s not a war
It’s been “not a war” for so long, and we don’t have a good word for it. “Grey zone”, “hybrid war”, in Zoroastrian terms these are druj-heavy. Trump himself chooses druj.
But the force of good benefits from not using the word “war”. Trump himself gains war powers if Congress uses the word. Those powers will be turned inward.
And Hegseth has dabbled in duality himself. What started as a Department of Defense became a Department of War. If you study what the Japanese military thought of Pearl Harbor —- Hegseth is using that strategy. Hegseth is constrained in that he can only choose strategies Obama would reject. And soon he’ll need to explain that it was really about defense all along.
But the force of good benefits from not using the word “war”. Trump himself gains war powers if Congress uses the word. Those powers will be turned inward.
And Hegseth has dabbled in duality himself. What started as a Department of Defense became a Department of War. If you study what the Japanese military thought of Pearl Harbor —- Hegseth is using that strategy. Hegseth is constrained in that he can only choose strategies Obama would reject. And soon he’ll need to explain that it was really about defense all along.