Why Are the U.S. and Israel at War With Iran? No One Knows.

"War, wrote Carl von Clausewitz, is merely the continuation of politics by other means. This generously assumed a politics to begin with. By the time the Great War rolled around almost a century later, the paradigm was already exhausted."

"The ideological battles of the rest of the 20th century seemed to rescue the theory of war-as-politics: the contest against fascism; the rivalry between western democracies and various flavors of socialism; the struggles of the colonized to throw off the yokes of their rulers."

"The attacks of 9/11 were propounded as a new clash of civilizations akin to the glorious Cold War, Islam (or some version of it) serving as the implacable Soviet menace to our imperiled free world."

"We invaded Iraq, again, an effort that also failed and petered out ignominiously. Its signal image remains an American president dressed up like a G.I. Joe figurine, grinning stupidly on the deck of an aircraft carrier underneath a 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED' banner right before things really turned."

The conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran lacks clear motivations, with various public officials offering differing explanations. Historical perspectives on war suggest that it often continues politics through violence, yet the rationale for current conflicts appears muddled. Previous wars, such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq, were initially supported but ultimately failed to achieve their intended outcomes. The notion of a new clash of civilizations has not materialized as expected, leaving many to question the purpose and direction of ongoing military actions.

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