That seems to be the motivation behind his executive order rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War, its name from 1789 to 1947. “We want to be offensive too.” It’s hard “to overstate the inanity of this move.” First, the order won’t change the department’s official name—that requires an act of Congress—but will allow “macho-obsessed” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use titles like “secretary of war” in official communications. Then there’s the fact that the Pentagon had solid reasons for sticking with the Department of Defense: After World War II, officials recognized that preserving the freedom of the U.S. and its allies from the Soviets would be “a matter of ongoing national defense,” in which the exercise of force was only part of the equation.
Author: theweekonlineeditors@futurenet.com (The Week US) , The Week US
Published at: 2025-09-16 21:32:22
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