Pete Hegseth and the Arsenal of Freedom

As the Middle Eastern confict rumbles on, US Secretary of State Pete Hegseth appears to channel his inner Saul Goodman ('Breaking Bad' TV series; Saul Goodman is a name created to reassure as it sounds like 'It's all good, man') in this solemnly worded message delivered against a cartoon background. With the world economy churning and thousands reported dead in the three months since the US and Israel launched a war on Iran, the graphics of this campaign from the US Department of War riff off Iran's satirical use of Lego figures in videos to denigrate the warmongers and pump up national pride. The Department says: "Thanks to President Trump’s historic $1.5 trillion investment in our military, AMERICA IS REBUILDING THE ARSENAL OF FREEDOM — and doing so responsibly". What do you think of the infantilisation of warfare in this manner? A salutary reminder, profoundly wrong, misapplied creativity? Is the notion of 'responsible warfare' in itself a travesty?

Keywords: Arsenal of Freedom, US Department of War, Pete Hegseth, Golden Shield, Golden Fleet, US military spending