The War Department: What’s in a Name?

President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth like the name Department of War (DoW). It’s accurate, for certain. Nuclear weapons are offensive weapons. You can’t use them at home. Tanks are designed to be used “over there.” We don’t have a war game that faces off foreign and domestic tanks at Santa Barbara, say, much less in Ohio. We load them up on ships and C-3 cargo planes for delivery to Afghanistan or Iraq or Ukraine or – well, we haven’t unloaded them in Iran yet, though they are probably nearby.

Fighter and bomber planes are designed to carry payloads long distances. The F-35 is a nuclear delivery system, as are the stealth bombers. The missiles all come with smart bombs now, with built-in GPS systems for accuracy.

So what the hell, it’s a War Department.

I’d like a Defense Department. Better yet, I’d like a Peace Department. Peace Department is an aspirational title. We might store up weapons and conduct an army, but we’d be saying the point is to make peace. And maybe we’d believe our own propaganda.

Trouble is, they are all aspirational titles. DoW expresses the hope that we can make war effectively – though from Vietnam onward we haven’t done well. As to DoD, where do we find our security? In food and health care and education and housing? Or in nuclear-powered submarines that carry cruise missiles armed with nuclear bombs? Which strategic direction makes our people safer?

So let it be the War Department for a while. Maybe we’ll come to our senses.