The Fogou of War!
Def. 'Fogou': (Noun) - a form of artificial underground passage or chamber found in Cornwall.
We now, in 2026, witness yet another war in the Middle East (or Western East depending on your perspective) that threatens to escalate into world wide proportions, beyond its regional base. We face the extistential prospect, if it were to develop into a nuclear exchange, between nuclear powers East and West, destruction and environmental consequences that would threaten the very existence of human civilization as we know it.
We cannot escape the irony of the rationale put forward by America and Israel, that the illegal attack on Iran is ostensibly to prevent a nuclear threat, when in fact it brings it immeasurably closer. Nor the irony that what is being done to ensure the security of Israel and the hegmonic power of the United States, will assuredly prove the reverse.
Despite all the bellicose rhetoric of Trump and Netanyahu, all the perfidious assassination, killing and destruction, experts conclude their deadly alliance cannot win and both are doomed to fail. The war may indeed mark the beginning of the end of American global predominence and of Israel's influence, the very opposite of what Trump promised his nation.
The 'fog of war' operates on many levels, practical and theoretical.
Fog or Smog?
Fog is a metereological condition of air born condensation. When it is mixed with, and polluted by, particles from explosion or combustion, natural or humanly caused, it turns to 'smog', from which many industrialised cities have and do suffer with disastrous results. Both in the Gulf States and in Iran we have seen oil refineries and storage depots inexcusably targeted with munitions, causing huge fires and environmetally damaging toxic smoke and fume. Perhaps we should rename it the 'Smog of War'?
Cynically and hypocritically, the nations and individuals that urge us to cherish the environment, cut down on pollution, protect human and animal life, preserve valuable natural natural resources, respect religions and cultures, do the very opposite. Not much of Carl von Clausewitz's "sensitive and discriminating judgment or skilled intelligence" in evidence here is there, let alone basic humanity?
Ethical Boundaries no longer Respected.
Even in Clausewitz's day the battlefield was filled with smoke and confusion. Now the battlefield is much more intense and widespread, measured not in yards but hundreds of miles. With rockets and aeroplanes, no area can regard itself as safe, no target too distant or obscure.
Even ethical boundaries between combatents and civilians, adults and children, sick, wounded or those who surrender, are any longer respected. The America/Israeli actions have re-written the Geneva Convention without telling anyone. Their moral credibility both in peace and war has been totally shattered. America targets a school of young pupils. Israel bombs people in tents. Indescriminate bombing of natural resources with terrible environmental consequences. International rules disregarded. Illegality defended. This is a recipe for disaster.
Abu Graib proved the moral degeneracy of America's treatment of captives. Israel took it to another level, actually defending and perpetuating the rape, torture and murder of detainees. Such a political society cannot be defended, though of course America does. Both are equally condemned before the law. Both have lost their claim to moral supremacy, yet both claim they are fighting Iranian 'evil'. There is no shortage of misrepresentation and hypocrisy on all sides.
Modern War-Fog.
But the Fog of War is not limited to the physical circumstances and catastrophes. It operates in the sphere of awareness, communication and command. Commanders need to know what is happening on the ground; soldiers need to know what is happening around them - so called 'situational awareness'. In close formation this is achieved by well honed skills of verbal and non verbal instructions and signals. At greater distances personnel and controllers are reliant on radio, interception and radar systems to keep abreast of what is happening.
It is no surprise therefore that both sides in a conflict, have as a primary aim the disruption and or destruction of these modern communication routes. Drones and satellites provide invaluable insight into enemy positions and assets. Only major powers have the ability to access satellite telemetry or intercept radio and internet traffic. Thus the 'Five Eyes' give America and Israel - although Israel is not officially a member - a distint advantage over Iran.
But there is reason to believe this advantage has been negated by Russian and perhaps Chinese systems being fed to Iran. Both the former have a vested interest in preventing the fall of Iran and the likely chaos that would ensue. Only recently China has reaffirmed its support of Iranian sovereignty and independance with a warning that another assassination of the Head of State would be totally unacceptible. Does trump want to put his intended trip to China in a month or so in jeapardy? Is he really that stupid?
Israel and America Blinded?
So Iran has it seems, pretty successfully, put out of action America's multi-billion early warning and targeting systems in the Gulf States. It might have done the same with Israel's. It certainly seems that with a combination of their latest hypersonic missiles, shortage of interceptors linked to disabled radar, Israel is vulnerable to rocket attack as never before. It is only a fraction of the size of Iran in both area and population. Its natural resources are limited and at the mercy of attack and disruption. Many military analysts not beholden to the American or Israeli political systems, have come to the conclusion that Iran must win the war if not having effectively done so already.
Trump is now claiming and snatching, victory from the jaws of defeat, both militarily and politically. Domestic and international public opinion is against him. This can only grow more intense with body bags and the price of commodities dependent on oil. Israel is suing for peace whilst maintaining its aggression, only because it cannot sustain the damage and cost.
The zionist entity may be in its death throws. There is speculation Netanyahu and others have been killed. Nor is it likely that Iran will agree to a peace deal unless it is 100 % convinced, an attack will not be repeated. And how can it ensure that? In the not so far distant background, the threat of a tactical nuclear weapon on Iranian soil, but who knows what diplomatic messages have been conveyed to the State Department and Pentagon from other nuclear powers, were that to occur?
The question arises, is the 'fog' lifting or getting denser?
What the Fogou!?
(See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogou )
So to return to the beginning. What you may ask has this modest, relatively unknown, prehistoric, Cornish structure got to do with the momentous current events, costing billions, threatening millions, demonstrating human nature and activity at its worst? Humans it would seem have always been capable of violence. Like Donald Trump said, "That's war" conveniently omitting he had agreed to it, had ordered it, defended it and lied about it.
There are no written materials from the time informing us what these underground structures were for, why they were built and by whom so we have to make an intelligent guess. They are found only in the far west of Cornwall and a few other remote western regions. They are associated with pre-Roman Iron-age settlements but may be older still as the area is still renowned for stone monoliths or 'meneers' and stone circles which are almost certainly religious in nature.
They represent a Celtic and pre-Celtic culture that once dominated swathes of Britain and Europe, probably with their origins in the middle and far east, following early trade and migration routes. A tribal verbal culture that had common elements but which from at least Roman times was under pressure and attack. The Gauls in France. The Celts in Britain who from 55 BC put up a stout resistance but were unequal to Roman military might. Britain is covered in massive defensive hill forts, that nevertheless were unable to prevent the regimented Roman advance. But they also pre-date the Roman invasion by many centuries, so there were obviously enemy invaders before them who had to be faced and fought.
Going underground for defence.
So I believe, although the Fogou may have had other domestic uses, for example storing crops, I'm surmising their principal use was protection from enemies and the elements. Storage of weapons, equipment and probably valuable metals even perhaps the secret processes to refine them, Tin, copper and even gold were sought after commodities for which traders came long distances. They would have had to have been securely stored prior to barter and trade, to prevent them being stolen. Why they can only be found in West Cornwall remains something of a mystery.
Once in human history it had religious significance: the entrance to a subterranean world of the imagination. The seed in the earth. The seed in the woman, creating life, renewal and survival. Even in the Middle Ages we find the idea in Dante's Divine Comedy, Virgil is employed as guide down into the earth to hell and back. Some of this metaphysical aura may have rubbed off onto the early miners. They certainly held a special place in Britain's manorial and feudal system.
Modern Times
Now the relevance to the modern situation. It is to be assumed that virtually every country in the world has constructed a secret under-world.
In the current Israeli/Iranian war, both sides rely heavily on the Fogou idea of going underground for secure systems of command, communication and weaponry. Both sides have targeted them with rockets and bombes to greater or lesser success. Operationally the 'fogou of war' is thus increased!
The 'Fog of Language in War' : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp0wFiB5168
"The first casualty of war is the truth." How can 'carpet bombing', as has happened in Tehran, be ethical and designed to avoid civilian deaths, over a thousand of which has already occurred?
Interactive Bunker Finder: Locate Military Bunkers, Air Raid Shelters & Historic Fortifications Near You
Digging In: The Secret Underground Bunker Iran Built To Keep Khamenei Alive And How Israel Found It
News 18 March 06, 2026,
https://www.news18.com/world/digging-in-the-secret-underground-bunker-iran-built-to-keep-khamenei-alive-and-how-israel-found-it-ws-l-9946386.html?utm_source=copy_share&utm_medium=clipboard&utm_campaign=clipnshare
Deep beneath the streets of central Tehran, Iran had built what it believed was an impenetrable refuge- a fortified underground command centre designed to keep the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alive and in control during the worst conceivable attack. On Thursday, approximately 50 Israeli fighter jets destroyed it.
The strike, confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces in a statement, targeted a large underground bunker beneath Iran’s leadership compound in central Tehran. The IDF described it as one of the most significant blows yet to Iran’s ability to direct its military and political response to the ongoing war.
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