“What Happens if We Get into a War?”

There is a quote that caught my eye. It was in a Mark Landler story, "Trump Crows as a Steel Plant Fires Up, but Tariffs Singe Soybean Farmers," about Trump's celebratory visit to a United State Steel Corporation mill in Granite City, Illinois. The plant had recently fired up a second blast furnace, presumably because Trump's tariffs on Chinese and European producers are increasing demand for U.S. steel.

Landler walked the floor of the plant interviewing rank-'n'-file steelworkers:

Nathan Kessler, 52, a millwright who just returned to his job after 10 months out of work, said the United States needed to have its own steel production for national security reasons — citing one of the White House’s criteria for imposing 25 percent tariffs on European and Asian steel.

“What happens if we get into a war?” Mr. Kessler asked. “What are we going to do? Melt down Kias?”

Wow. Isn't the U.S. at war already? The U.S. is presently deployed in over 150 countries; and in terms of ongoing military conflicts, the U.S. is fighting a (losing) war in Afghanistan, controls about one-third of Syria's geography, is actively engaged in the Saudi-led war against Yemen, once again maintains an active presence in Iraq, is arming the Baltics and Eastern Europe, has trainers in Ukraine, and regularly sends Navy patrols near China's installations in the South China Sea. Then there's Africa (Libya and Somalia). One could go on and on.

I know what the millwright is thinking though. He's thinking of total war, or at least a huge mobilization a la Desert Storm. With talk of a forthcoming U.S. strike on Iran, the U.S. might indeed "get into a war."