Napoleon understood that controlling the narrative was as vital as winning battles. He personally dictated all important army bulletins, acting as his own propaganda minister. This allowed him to directly shape public opinion, counter rumors, and manage the perception of his actions.

The telegraph enabled near-instant communication, tempting political leaders like President Lincoln to micromanage military campaigns from afar. However, this often failed, highlighting a timeless tension where communication technology outpaces effective command structures, creating an illusion of control that doesn't actually exist.

During WWII, British Naval Intelligence crowdsourced millions of holiday postcards from the public. These seemingly trivial images provided critical topographical details of French beaches, helping planners identify and name landing zones like Omaha and Sword for the D-Day invasion, turning holiday snaps into vital military intelligence.

Since Vietnam, the public's unwillingness to watch televised atrocities has made total war impossible. Conflicts now devolve into asymmetric battles where the weaker side bleeds the stronger empire until political will at home evaporates, making decisive "victory" a relic of the past.

Australian journalist Keith Murdoch, father of Rupert, wrote an embellished and highly critical letter about the campaign's mismanagement. Leaked to politicians and press barons, this report bypassed censorship and created the political pressure necessary to end the disastrous campaign.

During military operations, all sides release conflicting stories. The official government version, the enemy's counter-narrative, and online conspiracies are all weapons in an information war, requiring extreme skepticism to discern any semblance of truth.

The ideal of impartial journalism emerged in the Victorian era as a deliberate break from narrative-led reporting. The Times of London’s coverage of the Crimean War, which truthfully exposed military incompetence rather than promoting a heroic narrative, serves as a key historical example of this new, 'scientific' approach.

The US-Iran situation highlights that modern conflict involves a constant battle to control perception. Both sides use social media to push conflicting details and frames, making it difficult for the public to ascertain objective truth as any viewpoint can be reinforced online.

Major conflicts are defined by the media technology that documents them (e.g., photography, TV, Twitter). The Iran conflict marks a new era where prediction markets are the defining technology, documenting events through public wagers and creating a new form of decentralized intelligence.