The First Casualty

Trump’s War in Iran is also a war on truth

Mar 02, 2026

The old adage holds that truth is the first casualty of war. Certainly, there has been no war in my lifetime where it has felt more apt. Iran, Israel and the US governments are all wholly untrustworthy narrators. AI video generation and Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter have eliminated other avenues of information we would have previously relied upon.

While in the past, truth has been obscured in war for security concerns, tactical advantage and to cover up crimes, under this President it may be an explicit target. Trump has a singular genius for turning our information space into a foggy warzone and he’s betting that while his opponents struggle to find which way is up, he can gain political advantage.

What we don’t know

In his usual style, Trump’s announcement of the military action was a diatribe of historic grievance and unclear thinking. Apparently, the US is acting against “imminent threats from the Iranian regime”,¹ he singled out long range missile production and nuclear proliferation as targets but failed to answer the critical question of why now?

This is par for the course, realistic objectives can be measured, explicit goals, litigated. The UN charter gives only two circumstances where the use of force is permitted: Self defence or where authorised by the Security Council. In theory a US President is also answerable to Congress, which must authorise use of force or declare war. Needless to say, there has been no security council resolution, even Trump didn’t claim that Iran could currently hit the US with their missiles or that they planned to and Congress has not been consulted.

Any compromise with any of these institutions, or even reality itself, would imply that Trump was in some way accountable. This way whatever happens in Iran can be hailed as a victory and exactly what the President intended all along.

Getting away with it

Even Trump knows that while his aura of unaccountability has limited. In the last year he has hit up against NATO allies,² the Supreme Court ³ and most important of all, bond markets,⁴ each reigning in his ability to exercise his will.

To get away with it, he has two primary tactics.

The first is creating confusion and fatigue in his opponents. Trump creates an avalanche of news, constantly.

Bombing Venezuelan “drug boats”
Deposing Maduro
The killing of Renée Good
Threats to Greenland
Accepting the “gift” of María Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize
De-escalating threats to Greenland
The killing of Alex Pretti
The partial release of the Epstein files
Trump’s post of a video of the Obamas as apes
The State of the Union
The attack on Iran

These all happened this year. It’s been two months!

The second is to attack weak targets that no one wants to defend. Domestically he attacks foreigners and immigrants, externally he threatens military Greenland and Venezuela while meekly accepting Russian talking points.⁵

Iran fits this pattern. The Mullah’s regime is odious. A genuine threat to the region. A human rights abusing,⁶ terrorist supporting,⁷ theocracy, bent on creating a nuclear deterrent.⁸ Trump knows that any condemnation of his military aggression, trampling of the UN charter, Congress or civilian death in Iran will be preceded by a few sentences of throat clearing about how the Iranian regime was bad. Mark Carney, perhaps the most effective opponent of Trump so far, has come out in support ⁹ of this action. British planes ¹⁰ have been operating in the Middle East to swat down Iran’s retaliation and British bases ¹¹ are now facilitating American strikes as of last evening. His opponents literally make his arguments for him.

Us or Them

Faced with no concrete way to measure success, a clear set of enemies, and a barrage of news leaving no time for nuanced decision making, Americans are funneled into a false binary. Support Trump, or support his enemies.

The United States is currently in a state of hyper politicisation. The second Trump administration is constantly picking fights, flouting laws and enriching itself. Each outrage is blown up by conflict seeking algorithms ¹² but the outrage cycle is also a normalisation cycle. Every aspect of American life from the superbowl halftime¹³ show to the ballet ¹⁴ sparks a political power struggle.

It’s exhausting to keep up, difficult to find reliable information and increasingly dangerous to speak out when you are sure.¹⁵ As more institutions fall under Trump’s influence ¹⁶ or bend the knee,¹⁷ it will be less and less advantageous to be seen to oppose his regime.

The Last Casualty

There is another old adage on the effect of war, the one coined by Cicero. Silent enim leges inter arma. In times of war, the law falls silent. These adages are obviously related. The law requires demonstrable truth to be enforced. Indeed, the practice of law is in many ways a search for truth.

The last American forever-war brought us Abu Ghraib, kill lists, drone strikes and indefinite detention in Guantanamo bay. All under administrations led by men committed to democracy and the peaceful transfer of power.

If you believe that Trump is a threat to American democracy and the stability of the world order, the risk of escalation during the conduct of war, the necessary lowering of the cost of human life, the brutalisation of armed representatives of the state should worry you.

The truth may have been the first casualty. It won’t be the last.

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