On War #1: The massive air campaign directed at Iran is a bastard child of postmodern warfare. It is an invasion, not quite. The idea is to so decimate the Islamic regime, which lacks air defenses, that it hoists a white flag. It is what much-decorated American Air Force General Curtis LeMay had in mind when he suggested all that was needed to win the war in Vietnam was to “bomb [North Vietnam] back into the Stone Age.” (In 1968, he would run for vice president with George Wallace.) Bombings of Hanoi did follow, but the North remained steadfast. Moreover, the U.S. already had troops on the ground. That makes the Iran strategy all the more an aberration. If only the U.S. and Israel had armed avatars at their disposal. But we’re not there yet. And stubborn Iran holds on by the skin of its teeth, daring its adversaries to transform a video game into actual combat in which flesh-and-blood soldiers put their lives at risk, a theme I will elaborate on tomorrow.