Dies könnte der wirklich entscheidende Faktor im Krieg mit dem Iran sein – und Hegseth scheint sich dessen nicht bewusst zu sein
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/03/iran-trump-war-us-oil-strait-of-hormuz-hegseth.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=fred_mar13&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social–fred_mar13
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It is commonly noted that the United States and Iran are fighting an “[asymmetric war](https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2026-march-1a/),” but it is less widely understood what this means.
The phrase does not mean merely that the two sides are unequal in armed might. (Secretary of Defense [Pete Hegseth’s boast](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hegseth-us-strikes-iran-trump-plans-60-minutes-transcript/) that “this is not a fair fight, and that’s on purpose, our capabilities are overwhelming compared to what Iran’s are” is a truism and beside the point.)
Rather, it means that the two sides are, in a way, fighting different wars—that the two sides have different strengths and that the militarily weaker side is mustering its own type of strength to exploit the militarily stronger side’s vulnerabilities.
In this case, the U.S. (along with Israel) is blowing up a lot of Iranian structures with great power and precision. Meanwhile, Iran is blocking traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, thus hurling much of the globe’s economy and markets into panic.
For more from Slate’s War Stories correspondent Fred Kaplan: [https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/03/iran-trump-war-us-oil-strait-of-hormuz-hegseth.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=fred_mar13&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social–fred_mar13](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/03/iran-trump-war-us-oil-strait-of-hormuz-hegseth.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=fred_mar13&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social–fred_mar13)
“Hegseth seems oblivious” is kind of the headline, that sums it all up.
Hegseth is not a smart person in any definition of those two words.
His entire policy seems to hinge on the idea that if U.S. military is ruthless, amoral and unbound by international conventions, then it can pound any enemy into submission.
The idiocy of such a policy is becoming clear in this war.
He brought down overwhelming firepower and indiscriminate bomb runs on a country whose ideology is built on the idea that US is a ruthless, amoral country that regularly tramples international conventions. Iran has spent decades preparing for this war and they are treating like an existential one.
In all his worship of big guns and massive destruction, Hegseth forgot that military strategy isn’t just bound to who has the biggest guns. This idiot completely ignored two obvious pain points, US bases in Gulf states and the strait of Hormuz.
Hegseth is the most incompetent person I have seen in any government in the world apart from those who a. inherited a position. b. were elected by public voting.
Let’s not forget the judgement day lunacy driving hegseth’s core belief. If there ever was a definition of religious extremism taking a hold of policy, it would be the current US and Israel administrations
They’re fighting different wars, but not the way this article says. Iran is fighting for survival and Hegseth and friends are trying to bring Armageddon to trigger the return of Christ.
His own tattoos give it away.
> publicly condemned Iran, and joined the American-Israeli side. Even several European leaders, who had hoped to stay out of this war, felt compelled to send planes and warships, if just to defend their own interests and outposts.
Maybe i missed it but when did these countries join america? gulf states are passively watching, european leaders are turning against america one by one, and nobody is joining america in attacking iran.
apart from that the article doesn’t really have any new insights. plus i don’t get what s asymmetric in the last paragraph