A conflict, not a war, with no explanation

Our conflict in Iran is being misconstrued as war. But, wars have combatants on battlefields, front lines, foxholes and mud. We are seeing none of these essential elements of war over there.

Iran is now a kind of punching bag, and the U.S. a boxer. When we get winded, we pause but may return in a few weeks or months to resume exercising if we so choose.

This analogy fits in nicely with the fact that our goals are so mushy, with no definitive clarification of what the objective conditions on the ground will be to permit us to say that we have successfully concluded the mission.

So, what to call it? The president has called it an “excursion.” That expression does seem to capture the casualness of the affair — no need for Congressional approval and no worry that the thing might curtail the president’s golfing.

The point here is that waiting to witness a triumphant victory or an ignominious loss is a useless expectation. It could string out beyond this year, or it could end next week, for that’s the nature of conflicts of choice.

The military sometimes refers to these kinds of engagements as “asymmetrical” warfare, which means the two sides are not of equal strength or balance. However, based on recent history, that does not predict an assured outcome.

Jim Kinney

Vernon Hills