F
or two weeks now, analysts have been searching for rational explanations behind the United States' decision, alongside Israel, to launch a war against Iran. The constant shifts in messaging from the Trump administration, its daily contradictions and its incomprehensible demands (the American president is calling for an "unconditional surrender," but from whom, exactly?) demonstrate the futility of that quest.
What is clear, however, is that ever since his return to power in January 2025, Trump has been determined to create confusion and to wear out observers. It is time to accept the obvious: The White House is not concerned about providing clear explanations for this conflict, which has even been dubbed "Epic Fury."
The reasons for the war must therefore be sought elsewhere. For Trump, the goal remains the same: to fuel the narrative of a leader above the law, capable of forcing a nation to submit – to the rest of the world's amazement. He does not see past US military failures as lessons to be learned but rather as humiliations to be avenged.
The war is an act of vengeance for old American wounds: in Iran (Jimmy Carter in 1979), Iraq (George W. Bush after 2003), Afghanistan (Joe Biden in 2021) and even earlier, Vietnam (Richard Nixon). As in his first term, Trump's second era has been marked by nostalgia for the 1950s and a desire to restore a mythologized America – one that precedes civil rights, women's liberation and defeat in Vietnam.
