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Norms Impact

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As the executive escalates war without congressional approval, the Pentagon’s public messaging veers into propaganda-grade contradiction and trivialization of combat deaths.

Executive

Sources

https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-bizarrely-claims-we-didnt-start-this-war

Summary

The Pentagon published a Desert Storm-themed quiz on its website as the U.S. war with Iran intensified and President Donald Trump warned Americans would die. Pentagon leadership simultaneously framed the Iran war as something the U.S. did not “start,” while describing the operation as unconstrained by traditional rules of engagement. The result is a federal war posture that blends public-facing trivialization with executive-centered war-making, weakening the public’s ability to demand accountability before more lives are committed.

Reality Check

Normalizing war initiated without congressional approval shifts the constitutional center of gravity toward unilateral executive force, leaving our checks and balances as afterthoughts. When federal leadership pairs that shift with messaging that denies agency (“we didn’t start this war”) and boasts of loosened “rules of engagement,” we are trained to accept violence first and scrutiny later. Over time, this precedent erodes the public’s capacity to demand lawful authorization, transparent objectives, and measurable limits before Americans are sent to die.

Media

Detail

A quiz titled “Bombs Over Baghdad: Test Your Desert Storm Knowledge” appeared on the Pentagon website as the war in Iran intensified over the weekend. The quiz referenced Operation Desert Storm and included questions about which dictator was toppled, the operation code names, and which commander led U.S. forces; it also asked, “Did you serve on the front lines?” after high scores. The Gulf War ended in 1991 and, between Desert Shield and Desert Storm, almost 400 Americans were killed.

On Monday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Pentagon, “This is not Iraq, this is not endless,” and later stated, “We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it.” He described Iran as having conducted attacks for decades in a “one-sided war against America,” without specifics. He said “Operation Epic Fury” was not a regime-change war, while also stating the Iranian Supreme Leader was killed in an early strike and “the regime sure did change.”