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“Renaming the Pentagon won’t cause Congress to suddenly change its ways, but at least it is a reminder that the powers the Pentagon exercises are subject to legislative oversight. If those troops are commanded by the War Department, rather than the Defense Department, might it prompt more opposition to their deployment? Perhaps it can be followed by clearer thinking about the military’s role at home and abroad.” (Washington Post editorial, September 6, 2025)

The mainstream media, particularly the Washington Post, have come to the bizarre conclusion that changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War will suddenly lead to clearer thinking about the use of force, less use of military power, and greater congressional involvement and oversight of the Pentagon.

What could be more counter-factual and counter-intuitive than this conclusion? After all, we are talking about the United States, an aggressive colonial power, that has been at war for most of the past 35 years, managing conflicts in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and Southwest Asia; engaged in record-setting defense spending that equals the defense spending of the rest of the world; and sponsoring regime change and the use of torture and abuse in its war against terror that has taken on a........

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