"No, not my imprecations against militarism in America. It was a quip of mine that the Department of Defense (DoD) should return to its roots as the War Department, since the U.S. hasn't known a moment's peace since before the 9/11 attacks, locked as it's been into a permanent state of global war, whether against "terror" or for its imperial agendas (or both)."
"Rebranding the DoD as the Department of War is, Trump suggested, a critical step in returning to a time when America was always winning. I suspect he was referring to World War II. Give him credit, though. He was certainly on target about one thing: since World War II, the United States has had a distinctly victoryless military. Quick: Name one clear triumph in a meaningful war for the United States since 1945. Korea? At best, a stalemate. Vietnam? An utter disaster, a total defeat."
The President proposed renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War to signal a tougher, offensive military posture without proposing war bonds, taxes, or a draft. The nation has been locked into a permanent state of global war since before 9/11, pursuing campaigns framed as counterterrorism or imperial projects. Massive military spending, including $1.7 trillion for new nuclear weapons, continues alongside calls to cut the Pentagon budget that go unheeded. Post‑1945 conflicts have produced no decisive U.S. victories: Korea was a stalemate, Vietnam a defeat, and Iraq and Afghanistan became quagmires. The Cold War outcome did not yield the clear triumph Americans expected.
Read at The Nation
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