War Games by Geoff Carter

Attribution: Photo by Saifee Art on Unsplash

By Geoff Carter

One of the most popular films of 1983 was WarGames, in which our hero David Lightman, a teenaged hacker, runs across what he believes is a very sophisticated online computer war game, hacks into it, and initiates the “Geothermal Nuclear War” program. Unfortunately, the hacked device turns out to be the supercomputer that runs the United States NORAD defense, and Lightman eventually discovers he is on the brink of starting World War III. Our young hacker is appalled to learn what he has done, and subsequently works with the authorities to reverse the damage he has caused. And now, in 2026, truth has become stranger than fiction.

Video war games have come a long way since 1983. Instead of gray-screened displays with primitive two-dimensional animation, astoundingly realistic first-person shooter animation takes us to the beaches of Normandy, the hedgerows of France, the highways of L.A., and to worlds far, far away. These games have become increasingly popular, part of the fabric of our popular culture. Teenage boys in particular seem to love them.

Computer science has come a long way, too. Artificial intelligence has arrived, and it’s here to stay. A supercomputer—or program—capable of running our national defense system is now a reality. According to the New York Times, the AI company Anthropic has been integrated into our classified defense systems, but some of the wrinkles are still being worked out . It seems that Anthropic had raised concerns about how its technology was used a bit recklessly by the Pentagon in the attack against Venezuela.

Military technology systems gone haywire is the stuff of nightmares. Fail Safe, Dr. Strangelove, and The Terminator—along with WarGames—are stories that present terrifying scenarios of how sentient technology goes rogue or—in a slightly more reassuring scenario—are mismanaged by their human operators, but these possibilities pale compared to the consequences of incompetent, misguided, or malevolent human action—like America’s surprise attack on Iran.

This assault on Iran was ill-considered, ill-planned, and initiated with little or no consideration of long-reaching consequences. No one in the White House seemed to have thought things through. When asked about the possible duration of the conflict or whether U.S. troops might possibly be deployed, Trump has hemmed and hawed, blustered or denied. He doesn’t seem to have a long-term plan. He has gone from saying he was fed up with Iran’s reluctance to negotiate (not true) to the attack was a preemptive strike (not true) to he wanted to help the Iranian people to gain their freedom (really not true).

Some pundits have speculated he was thinking this action might be as easy as the Venezuelan attack where he was lucky enough to extract—kidnap—President Maduro without having to deal with a power vacuum afterwards. This success might have encouraged him to play more games with what he probably now considers to be toy soldiers in his own personal video game.

According to the New York Times, “his (Trump’s) move toward war grew inexorably, fueled by allies like Mr. Netanyahu who pushed the president to strike a decisive blow against Iran’s theocratic government; and by Mr. Trump’s own confidence after the successful U.S. operation that toppled the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January”. Peer pressure.

Goaded into action against Iran by Israel and also encouraged by his Venezuelan success, Trump and wingman Pete Hegseth decided to go to attack, but their motivations seemed much more concerned with the optics—like a video game—rather than political gains or geopolitical repercussions, much less the human cost or the American casualties in the region.

Trump does not play according to the rules—even when he goes to war. There was no formal Oval Office address, only a short video posted from his Mar-a-Lago golf resort. He also did not consult Congress—as is required by law—or bothered to inform the American of the risks and rewards of attacking Iran. He is flying solo—like a kamikaze pilot.

As reported by ABC News, in lieu of speaking to the nation—as presidents typically do—the White House instead released a series of videos combining Iran battle footage with clips from games like Grand Theft Auto and films Braveheart, Deadpool, Superman, Better Call Saul, and Top Gun (White House X).

Rapidly cut together as a jingoistic chest-thumping rally, it looks like something put together by a high-school film class. There is precious little actual footage of or real information about the war in this video. It’s largely flexing and posturing. It begins with a technician starting up computer bank while saying “Daddy’s home” (a reference to Trump getting back into the White House), and (like our group of overstimulated high-school boys) seems completely self-absorbed with its own toughness and audacity. It’s all about the hormones.

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments about the conflict have hardly seemed measured or reasonable, but overtly aggressive and overly confident. “We’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force,” he said. “We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated” (CNBC). Trump struck the same tone with comments on his social media platform Truth Social. “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far” (CNBC), threats that do not seem to have deterred Iran’s resolve and that solve like threats from a schoolyard bully.

While at first Hegseth acknowledged there would be casualties, he later, in a vacillation typical of this administration, attempted to play down the costs of war, because—you know—no one dies in a video game. Hegseth said that the American press emphasizes U.S. casualties in the Iran war because it “wants to make the president look bad” (PBS), but the public does need to know the cost of war. Timothy Naftali, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, makes the point that “he public needs to know that war is not a video game,” Naftali said. “It affects people” (PBS). So does the White House.

On March 6^th, NBC News reported that the president is seriously considering sending ground troops to secure Iran’s uranium reserves and sot “the U.S. and a new Iranian regime cooperate on oil production similar to how the U.S. and Venezuela are, the sources said.” (NBC News) much like the arrangement he was able to pull off in Venezuela because, of course, as Trump has shown, his primal driving interest is personal profit.

While his private war on Iran might have been precipitated by his friendships with Benjamin Netanyahu and fueled by the idea that it would be a quick strike much like the American attack on Venezuela, the conflict has turned into an international disaster, both geopolitically and economically. Iran has not been cowed. They seem more determined than ever to fight. Oil distribution is at a standstill. Oil production has been stalled. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Manufacturing dependent on energy has slowed.

The only nation that has truly profited from this debacle is Russia. To ease the oil squeeze, Trump has lifted sanctions against them even though numerous sources have reported that the Russians have provided military intelligence regarding American troops to Iran. (The Washington Post). Russia is providing comfort to the enemy and yet Trump still treats them, and his good friend Putin, as an ally.

This idiocy—along with this traitorous activity—is emblematic of not only his limited knowledge of history, politics, diplomacy and governing skill, but emphasizes his overriding concern with optics. By all reports, Trump loves to watch TV. His view of the war in Iran must feel like heaven to him, even though it is—and will surely be—a living hell for those who sends into the jaws of battle.

War Games

By Geoff Carter

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By Geoff Carter

Notes

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