Amman
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A war that is “won” but also “not finished yet.” An “excursion” that requires Iran’s “unconditional surrender.” President Donald Trump’s rhetorical knots fit well with his style of dictating America’s information diet, but fall flat when they hit the gritty reality of conflict.
The “win” in war is not as it is in sports: a score does not declare the victor after a previously agreed duration. The bravado and gamer-style videos of the US government as it pursues its assault on Iran belie the extraordinary seriousness of an intractable moment: how far do the Americans have to go, not to just declare “we won,” as Trump did Wednesday in Kentucky, but to make Iran…