The delusion of easy victory from the air may have seduced the US into another war

Air superiority is supposed to deliver a quick triumph. But history has shown that promise to be written on the wind Middle East crisis – live updates To explore the roots of Donald Trump ’s Iran military strategy and the pugilistic rhetoric of his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth , means looking back 105 years.

Key takeaways

Quick scan — what you need to know:

• Air superiority is supposed to deliver a quick triumph.
• But history has shown that promise to be written on the wind Middle East crisis – live updates To explore the roots of Donald Trump ’s Iran military strategy and the pugilistic rhetoric of his…
• In 1921, a year before Benito Mussolini and his blackshirts marched on Rome to launch the Fascist era, an Italian general named Giulio Douhet published The Command of the Air, proposing a revolution…
• Victory in the future, he said, would no longer come from the grinding trench combat of the Great War.

Background

What led here, in plain terms:

• Instead it meant large-scale aerial bombardments, targeting not just combatants but civilians and civilian infrastructure and logistics.
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• Air superiority is supposed to deliver a quick triumph.
• But history has shown that promise to be written on the wind Middle East crisis – live updates To explore the roots of Donald Trump’s Iran military strategy and the pugilistic rhetoric of his…

Why it matters

Why readers and decision-makers should care:

• In 1921, a year before Benito Mussolini and his blackshirts marched on Rome to launch the Fascist era, an Italian general named Giulio Douhet published The Command of the Air, proposing a revolution…
• Victory in the future, he said, would no longer come from the grinding trench combat of the Great War.
• Instead it meant large-scale aerial bombardments, targeting not just combatants but civilians and civilian infrastructure and logistics.