Pete Hegseth’s testosterone militarism and calls to escalate against Iran reveal the dangerous fantasies shaping US war thinking.

Hegseth popped up in a video presaging his intention to test testosterone levels in American troops to make sure he has a “High T Department of War”. He wants to get testosterone frothing away in his charges so they can “operate at their absolute best” and provide “the biological foundation required to sustain the fight”.

In the video Hegseth looks as if he’s sufficiently overflowing with the stuff to top up any deficiencies in several battalions of troops. He may even have a pint or two left over for his 80-year old President who may well have run his supplies down to perilously low levels.

For those not in the know, testosterone is a naturally occurring hormone that helps with the development of sex characteristics, muscle mass, bone density and, I’m afraid, sperm production. Men have more of it than women.

Testosterone levels are affected by many things, including age, and if they get lowish the benefits listed in the paragraph immediately above can be compromised.

Happily, in Chicago in the 1920s Professor Fred Koch was able to get his hands on large quantities of bovine testicles from the local abattoirs. He extracted the........

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