The flames of war in the Middle East had been burning for three full days.
Fighter jets roared above the Persian Gulf, and missiles tore through the night sky with long trails of exhaust, reducing targeted ports and radar stations to seas of fire.
Back home, long lines formed at gas stations. The digital price boards ticked upward by the hour, striking a nerve with every driver.
In the White House briefing room, the press secretary repeated the same rhetoric day after day:
"Everything is under control.
"Our strikes are precise, limited, and have fully achieved their intended strategic goals.
"The President is firmly in command of the situation from the Oval Office."
Washington tried to use this tough, confident narrative to pacify domestic voters agitated by rising prices.
Until the morning of the fourth day.
An in-depth article titled *How the White House Live-Streamed Its War Plans to Me in a Group Chat* appeared on the digital front page of The Atlantic Monthly.
