The lad who inspired Aesop to write, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” (also known as “The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf”), has grown up and is now President of the United States. Since February 28, 2026, Donald Trump has released 11 statements suggesting the war with Iran was over or that a negotiated deal is close, only it turns out to be a hoax. What emerges across nearly three months is a remarkably consistent cycle: Trump declares victory or proximity to a deal → Iran denies it or the facts on the...

Although the Iran war largely has been viewed through the lens of conventional western warfare, its lessons are anything but conventional. They are in fact insurrectionary. The post-war western approach (especially in the Cold War context) relied on the ability to outspend any military adversary through the acquisition of high-end, over-engineered and costly manned aircraft and munitions. Dominance of airspace and heavy reliance on aerial bombardment, i.e. air-war, was the doctrinal...