The Axis is so consistent in condemning everything President Trump does that it is becoming difficult to define what is really right and wrong. “Who did it” is not a valid or reasonable basis for making the distinction, but I swear, the Left has been so relentless with its warping of language and standards that even I am getting confused.
The current question is this: “Is there anything wrong with re-naming the Defense Department the Department of War, or the War Department, which is what it was called for before 1947 without the mountains falling and the seas boiling?”
As usual, there is a substantial chance that this is Trump Trolling, as he tries to make people’s head explode. I can also conceive of some value to the name change. I see nothing wrong with the U.S. projecting an image of strength and of a nation that is not going to tolerate international outrages because it’s reluctant to use military force. Yet focusing on “defense” has its advantages too.
They are two sides of the same metaphorical coin, one seeming more aggressive (oh-oh! That pesky testosterone again!) and the other more typically feminine: making the priorities accommodation and compromise over conflict and violence.
Is there any basis for ruling Trump’s branding decision unethical? I don’t see one.
Ethics Alarms 
Beyond projecting strength it is a more accurate descriptor of the departments true mission – we use it to kill people and break things. It does not hide behind the euphemism of being only to defend our homeland. Few complain about spending billions of dollars on defense to protect us but just maybe we might start asking questions if the appropriations were for the war department.
I want a strong military. One so strong that it makes bad actors think long and hard before they do something that forces us to kill people and break things. I don’t want people killed nor do I want to be stuck with the bill of cleaning up after someone starts some idiotic war. That doe not mean that I want a military industrial complex influencing decision making in order to enhance profits.
If we are honest with ourselves the Department of War is a more accurate descriptor.
The only objection to the name change is Money. For a President concerned with wasteful expenses I question the worth of this change given the expense. DoD becomes DoW, logo and seal changes have to be propagated. Hopefully he is Trolling to make the accurate point of what the Department does. That or he is prepping the people for the coming storm.
Excellent point. Name changes and logo overhauls are expensive for any organization: for a monster bureacracy like the Defense Department, this must be extremely costly. I wonder what Elon would say? Then again, he changed Twitter’s name to something worse for no discernible reason…
From the sixties onward we has been transforming the military into a social experience laboratory, forgetting the true mission of the military. As Patton said “the job of the soldier is to not die for your country but kill the bastard so he can die for his” (or something like that.).
We have indeed feminized the military and we must get back to warrior ethos as Secretary Pete reiterates..
Agreed. The military was turned into just another career path for people who want a pension in twenty years. “Why shouldn’t women be able to get in on that deal? Why does the military have to be just guys? It’s not fair.” To which the answer should be, “No. The point of the military is to kill people and blow shit up more effectively than other countries’ militaries can. Get a job in some other government department.”
War Department only oversaw the Army and Navy until like 1800 when they created a separate cabinet position for the Navy Department. Department of Defense combined both again around 1950 and the newly formed Department of the Air Force (only a few years old) under one secretary to make coordination at the presidential level easier and less competitive.
I don’t know if this played into it, but as branches are highly competitive and proud of their heritage- none of them were going to see themselves as being subordinated the others. So the Navy wouldn’t be happy being “subordinated” to the War Department (a nominally Army designation).
“Department of Defense” meant all the branches were equally subordinated to a new entity. I also feel like the name was propaganda to imply that we don’t start wars (as if that’s a bad thing when needed).
Trump cannot and did not change the name of the Department of Defense. Only Congress can make that change. Instead he issued an EO stating that the name ‘War Department’ can be used in official correspondence and officials can use ‘War’ in place of ‘Defense’ as a secondary title. But, secondary titles are to be used only “provided that the use of such titles does not create confusion with respect to legal, statutory, or international obligations.”
Being stupid is not unethical. Acting stupidly in a way that causes confusion and wastes tax dollars is unethical.