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Why are they calling it the "Iran war". It's more like the US/Israeli War. Or more specifically, the US/Israeli assault on Iran.
by recroad 7mo ago
Why are they calling it the "Iran war". It's more like the US/Israeli War. Or more specifically, the US/Israeli assault on Iran.
- Aachen 7mo agoSeems to be convention. If you search for "Russian war", the top hit is "Ukraine war", second hit "Ukraine-Russia war". Most results seem to mention both parties but when brevity is needed, the place where it's taking place seems to take priority over the belligerents Just observing, not saying it's a good or bad linguistic practice
- graemep 7mo agoPoint of view. If you are American its the war with Iran. If you are in most other English speaking countries you would go along with that. That said, I have also seen it referred to as "the Middle East war" and one headline calls it "Trump's war". I wonder what they call it in Iran?
- mlrtime 7mo agoThe question is rhetorical (I hope). It is obvious why it's called a name based on the frame and context.
- bbddg 7mo agoThe US is involved in too many wars to call them all the "US war".
- recroad 7mo agoFair enough. That's a reasonable answer.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- blnlx 7mo agoI suspect it’s mostly a naming convention. Wars are often labeled after the territory where the fighting occurs rather than the actors involved. That’s why we say “Ukraine war” or “Iraq war,” even though multiple states may be involved. In this case, “Iran war” is a bit misleading because the conflict is largely a missile and proxy confrontation affecting several territories (Iran, Israel, and parts of the Gulf), not just one battlefield. Personally, I find it clearer to name conflicts after the primary actors involved. For example: Russia–Ukraine war U.S. & Israel–Iran war That makes the participants explicit instead of implicitly framing the war around a single country or location.
- pocksuppet 7mo agoBecause we're sitting here on the American side. In Iran it's probably called the America war or the Israeli war. Another way to name wars, when they aren't happening to you, is based on where they happen. The war is happening in and around Iran. It's very unlikely that Iran will manage to bring the war to America. You could also call it the Gulf of Persia war. You can also name them propagandistically, as in the "2023 Israel-Hamas war". Thankfully this hasn't happened in this case.
- watwut 7mo agoThat would made it hard to distinguish all the wars US started, threatened or will start.
- jjk166 7mo agoUkraine war, Nagorno Karabakh war, Iraq war, Kosovo War, Gulf War, Falklands War, Vietnam war, Korean war, wars frequently are named for where they are fought.