Bravery Does Not Win Wars
Even With Extra Testosterone Supplements
Hi All,
First, a promise. I will get to all the questions I was asked for the AMA. The beast was rather unleashed with that piece and hundreds of questions have come in (and continue to come in). I was simply not prepared for so many. I am trying to answer a certain amount per day, but it still will take a while to get through them all—so bear with me. Also, for clarity’s sake, I will only answer the first question in a thread. Certain threads have taken on a life of their own, and I simply cannot keep up.
Also, in some cases, people have asked versions of the same questions, ones which would require a longer, essay type response. I will try to answer some of those in the coming weeks and months as standalone pieces. The ones that stand out are (I’m paraphrasing here):
How do you see the Russo-Ukraine War developing/ending?
The shape of a possible war in the Pacific.
The future shape of the US military.
The books I have found most influential and why.
An update on the likelihood (or not) of nuclear weapons being used by Russia.
The first one of these about war-ending scenarios will be tackled soon as many people asked that—maybe the end of this week.
Do the rest sound appealing to the rest of you?
Also, just a heads up that I will be doing a Substack Live this week with Shaun Pinner—who you might remember from this Substack Live in 2025. Shaun was a long-time member of the Ukrainian military, a Russian prisoner of war, and still lives in Ukraine where he comments powerfully and perceptively about the state of the war. I thought he would be the perfect person to talk about the controversy now involving Fedorov and Syrskyi. If there is a big development in the next day or so, we could move it up, but for now, plan on that on Thursday or Friday.
Now for the piece.
Bravery Does Not Win Wars
Did you know that the United States attacked Iran last night in “honor” of the three US servicemen killed in an Iranian strike the day before? That’s right, the president who unleashed this war said exactly that when speaking to reporters last night.
“We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the, probably three, it’s probably three great patriots,”
This kind of faux testimonial came just a few days after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the US, in search of some optimal, musclebound warrior, would start screening soldiers for testosterone levels annually—and offering enhancements for those who want them. In a surreal announcement on Twitter, which was entitled “The High-T Department of War”, Hegseth equated “world class…war fighters” with testosterone levels. Hegseth said:
“Under the supervision of our world-class medical professionals, war fighters age 30 and older are going to be tested annually as part of their periodic health assessment,”
Btw, testosterone boosting is strongly linked to infertility—so in encouraging testosterone boosting, Hegseth might be killing off the possibility of more US soldiers in the future.
