FLASH
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Packaging live combat as social media content, recording actual kills in real time and broadcasting them to an audience of millions, is an innovation in the history of American warfare.
The US government is treating the attacks on Iran like a video game, inviting the country to watch memes and montages that include the human cost of war.
Why it matters: The Trump administration did not invent wargaming, nor wartime propaganda, a tool of governance as old as armed conflict itself.
But packaging live combat as social media content, recording actual kills in real time and broadcasting them to an audience of millions, is an innovation in the history of American warfare.
Two weeks after the launch of Operation Epic Fury, much of the White House's online messaging has been a stream of videos that intersperse real-life missile strikes with footage from Call of Duty, Wii Sports, and popular Hollywood movies.
One video interspersed clips from "Top Gun," "Iron Man," and "Braveheart" with images of Iranian targets being destroyed, ending with the audio of Mortal Kombat: "Perfect Victory."
Another opened with a Grand Theft Auto meme, "Oh shit, here we go again," before cutting to live footage of the attack on Iran.
When CNN aired a segment on the shocking content, White House communications director Steven Cheung thanked the network for covering "all of our provocative videos."
Later, Cheung posted a cheat code from Grand Theft Auto for unlocking weapons and greeted critics with a mocking reference to live-streaming culture: “W is in the chat, guys!”
What they're saying: " The mainstream media wants us to apologize for highlighting the extraordinary success of the United States Military, but the White House will continue to point to the many examples of Iran's ballistic missiles, manufacturing facilities, and dreams of possessing a nuclear weapon being destroyed in real time ," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Axios.
"No one is making fun of our soldiers, we are highlighting the mortality and successes of our military."
The videos have worked exactly as the White House intended, projecting force, generating shockwaves, and reinforcing President Trump's image as a leader who hits hard and answers to no one.
But they have also drawn harsh criticism: Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich condemned war gaming as "a profound moral failure" that "dehumanizes real people."
The White House videos are the most visible expression of a broader phenomenon, a country that has built an entire ecosystem around the consumption of war as content.
Take prediction markets for example: modern conflicts have become live betting exchanges, with more than $1 billion bet on attacks on Iran and regime change since the bombings began.
Kalshi ran a $54 million market on whether Iran's supreme leader would leave office, then cited a little-known "death exception" when he was assassinated, sparking a class action lawsuit.
Polymarket briefly ran a market on the timing of a nuclear explosion, attracting nearly $1 million in bets before quietly pulling it.
Between the lines: Memes and speculation obscure a staggering number of human casualties. “War is hell and always will be,” as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth admitted.
At least 13 American service members have been killed. Hundreds more have been injured, including dozens who suffered traumatic brain injuries, shrapnel wounds and burns, according to CBS News.
A preliminary Pentagon investigation determined that the US military mistakenly struck an Iranian girls' school with a Tomahawk missile, reportedly killing 168 children.
Israeli attacks on Tehran's oil depots left the city of 9 million people blanketed in toxic black smoke, with residents reporting oily rain, burning lungs and skies dark enough to block out the sun.
Bottom line: For millions of Americans, the war with Iran lives on the same media network as memes, fake artificial intelligence content, and major sporting events, creating a false sense of proximity to armed conflict that no previous generation has experienced./ Adapted from Axios.
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