There Is No Department of War

 While waiting for a delayed flight (some kind of emergency messed up Newark tonight), I got miffed at a smart piece on the state of US-European relations.  In the second paragraph, it makes reference to the US Department of War.  There is no Department of War.  Just because Trump or Hegseth say something does not make it so.  As an agency created by Congress--twas a big deal merging Dept of War (yes, that is what it was called way back when as it was the Army's department) and Dept of Navy with a great book on aspects of its creation and consequences by Amy Zegart--can only be renamed with legislation.  Despite what he may think, Trump can't legislate.

The Department of War fits into the same category as Gulf of America--just more expensive and dumber.  It is more expensive because, yes, these insecure overcompensating actors have spent a heap of money on new letterhead, signs, and the like.  Can't have a stupid, counterproductive branding exercise without a heap of branding.

Why is it stupid?  Hegseth's justification is that the military is for warfighting, not for defense.  Besides the annoying belligerence and, again, faux alpha males peacocking, it is also just wrong.  These guys are not overcompensating for having small penii, they are overcompensating for being the bully/cowards that they are.  The US military can and does war, but it also defends.  Indeed, the most successful exercise of American power since the end of World War II has been the power of the US armed forces deterring aggression and, yes, limiting nuclear proliferation.

On the former, note that no country has conventionally attacked an American ally (a real ally with a treaty and everything, not countries that are referred to as a non-NATO ally--Pakistan doesn't count).  South Korea was attacked only after the US mistakenly left it outside of the security perimeter it had established.  West Europe remained free despite the Soviet military having far more strength in Europe.  Indeed, Putin refuses to hit NATO countries even as they funnel large amounts of weapons to Ukraine, even as Putin seems to have Trump on a leash.  Defending other countries via the threat of awesome American military power has been great for the US.  The postwar prosperity was built partly on this foundation.  The US fought two bloody wars, belatedly, before it provided security guarantees to Europe.  Since then?  None.  So, defending others is good for the US. And note, yes, no country has attacked the US conventionally either.  

On the latter, defending other countries via American deterrence--the tripwire of American troops whose deaths could trigger a nuclear response--has also reassured countries so they don't develop their own nuclear weapons.  Again, this is the US military providing defense that ultimately improves US security.  

And that gets at it--security is not just about fighting.  Critically, it is about not fighting.  It is about defending via deterrence.  So, the Department of Defense is aptly named and good branding.  Now, the US military has been used offensively in a number of ways over the decades, but a lot of that didn't go very well--Vietnam (quibble with that and I will bring up Cambodia and Laos) and Iraq to name two.  So, perhaps stick with what works?

Most fundamentally, autocrats like to create reality from, well, bullshit.  They call a gulf by a different name and demand obedience.  Same with this--don't obey the mad ravings of the autocrat.  If Trump wants to call it the Dept of War, then serious analysts will call it the Department of Defense until Congress changes it.  Many of Trump's executive orders have no basis in law or reality, so let's not give them any legitimacy or support.  And it is a really simple decision rule--call things by their legal names.