Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Flotsam and Jetsam - Truth is the First Casualty of War

There's been one important local casualty of the US/Israel/Iran war; my filing system. I sort articles for these morning posts into 5 or 6 digital bins, Trump and the Republicans, Democrats, The Justice system, Immigration, the Media and Freedom of Speech, and the great Culture war. (I currently have a bin for DOGE, but it is inactive; any article appropriate would simply go in the Trump file). Since Saturday, the Trump file is getting nearly everything, and all else is going all but unused. 

ET reports 4 US Fatalities Due to Iranian ‘Squirter’ Hitting Tactical Ops Center: Hegseth. U.S. Central Command @CENTCOM "CENTCOM Update TAMPA, Fla. – As of 4 pm ET, March 2, six U.S. service members have been killed in action. U.S. forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran's initial attacks in the region. Major combat operations continue. The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification." Considering the scale of the operation, these are very low numbers, but, of course, each is a great tragedy to family and friends. ET, Trump Vows Vengeance for US Military Deaths. Centcom also reports Three U.S. F-15s Involved in Friendly Fire Incident in Kuwait; Pilots Safe. OSINTtechnical @Osinttechnical, "Footage of Kuwaiti locals approaching one of the shot down American pilots this morning. “Are you OK? Thank you for helping us.”" Capt. Ed, Hezbollah Enters War, Gets Instant Regret; UPDATE: Intel Chief Killed. J Post, Amazon's cloud unit reports fire after objects hit UAE data center.

VodkaPundit at PJM, U.S. Hits Iran With Iran's Own Drone Design, and I Can't Stop Laughing. We took the design of the Shahed drone, made it better and cheaper. Dave Strom at Hat Hair, HUGE: What Most People Have Missed About US Use of Low-Cost Drones in Iran. Fox, Operation Epic Fury: How America's air power is crushing Iran’s terror regime.

Beege Welborn hears Iran Says It's 'Closed the Strait of Hormuz' - Inquiring Minds Respond 'With What?' With Lloyds of London. Without insurance, ships won't chance it. From News Wax, Oil Prices Could Surge Toward $90 as Insurers Cancel Gulf Coverage. John Ʌ Konrad V @johnkonrad, "This is potentially the biggest Iran story nobody is talking about: the global insurance market may be heading toward a systemic crisis. Here’s why… Most people don’t realize London isn’t just a financial center it’s THE center of global insurance. Lloyd’s underwrites ~40% of the world’s marine cargo. Ship sinks, port gets bombed, canal gets blocked the bill lands in London." Anxious is anxious as usual, Oil producers vow to boost output as world gauges Iran fallout. Convenient that we got Venezuela up and running on our side, doncha think?

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair cites Trump: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. From Ace, rump: "The Big Wave" of Attacks on the Islamic Regime Occupying Iran Hasn't Even Started Yet, "Speculation: The "Ground Forces" Phase of This War May Be Fought Entirely With Drone Hunter-Killers." NYPo hears Trump won’t rule out sending US troops into Iran ‘if necessary’— tells Post war is progressing ‘way ahead of schedule’ “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.'” ET, Top US General Says It Will Take Time to Achieve Military Objectives in Iran "‘This is not a single overnight operation,’ Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine says," and Israel to Intensify Iran Strikes in Coming Days, Says Netanyahu. It appears the US and Israel have a division of labor; Israel is targeting Iranian leadership, while the US is trying to reduce the Iranian military capability to rubble. Spin, Strangeness and Charm, Day 3 of “Operation Roaring Lion”: insightful tweets, and a parallel with the Thirty-Years War. PJM's Scott Pinsker notes Isn’t It Nice Having an Ally Like Israel That Can Actually Do Stuff? Ward Clark at RedState reports Nine Iranian Navy Ships Now on the Bottom of the Ocean. No Pasaran! "But Why Did the Iranian Air Defenses Fail to Activate?" Inside Operation Epic Fury — How the U.S. & Israel Struck Iran.

Duane Patterson at Hat Hair, I Got Him Before He Got Me. They Tried Twice. Well, I Got Him First. At Da Caller, Trump Says US Decapitated Iranian Leadership As They Ate Breakfast, "coffee, tea or BGM?" NYPo explains how The US and Israel tracked Khamenei for months — and then he gave them a massive opportunity to take him out. Streiff at RedState observes How Iran Trying to Punk President Trump on a Deal Went Terribly Wrong, and Why No One Should Try It. J Post, Iranian VP takes over during wartime, raising questions about Pezeshkian's status - report "The Iranian reports did not explicitly mention President Masoud Pezeshkian's ability to carry out his political duties." Melissa Francis @MelissaAFrancis, "BREAKING FROM THE WAR ZONE: (I HAD THE UNDER.) Supreme Leader Ayatollah Arafi has been killed in an airstrike. He was on the job 22 hours." PJM's Vicky Taft says Let's Take a Trip Down Memory Lane With Iran's Mullahs. NYPo's Michael Goodwin: The death of Ayatollah Khamenei instantly makes the world a better place. Roger Kimball at Am Great looks at Operation Epic Fury and the Fall of the Mullahs "Forty-seven years after the mullahs seized power, the countdown ended in fire, and Trump wagered that decisive force—not talk—would finally clear the path to Iran’s liberation." No Pasaran! says 47 Years Is Long Enough: Finally — Donald Trump Brings the Carter Era to a Close. Insurrection Barbie @DefiyantlyFree, "This didn’t begin Friday. Carter started it. He watched the Islamic Republic take power, watched American diplomats get seized and paraded on television for 444 days, spent the rest of his presidency negotiating with people who had already told us exactly what they were..." Chris Stigall at TownHall, Trump’s Operation Epic Fury: Striking the Evil Iranian Regime That Obama and Biden Funded. Randy Barnett @RandyEBarnett, “So the next time someone tells you this is Trump’s war tell them they are brainless twats. This isn’t Trump’s war. This is forty-five years of American presidents refusing to finish it and one president finally deciding that the bill comes due.” Ward Clark, Iran Forms New Leadership Council After Khamenei's Death, Vows Revenge. CNBC thinks Khamenei’s death raises questions about Trump’s China trip. It should. Rabbi Mike Barclay explains Why This Month of Ramadan Is the Perfect Time for War With Iran. It's a traditional time for war in Islam.

Fox poll, 1 in 4 Americans back Trump’s Iran strikes, most say he’s too quick to use force. I'm worried but hopeful. The Drunk Republican @DrunkRepub, "Obama was droning American citizens and the left didn’t bat an eye but Trump takes out one of the worst regimes in the world and they act like he stomped a kitten lmao". PattyMI @PattyLovesTruth, "I’m old enough to remember when former CIA Analyst (then-candidate for U.S. Rep) Senator Slotkin, ran away when asked her how she was involved with Obama’s secret pallets of cash that he sent to Iran." Matt Vespa, Kamala Harris Did Not Just Say That About the Iran Strikes. Sarah At Insty, DISAPPROVAL OF THESE PEOPLE IS SUREST SIGN YOU’VE DONE THE RIGHT THING: Mamdani, AOC, Omar among far lefties piling on Trump over Iran strikes. Dave Strom at Hat Hair VIP wonders Are Democrats Making a Huge Mistake Blasting Trump on Iran? UPDATE: Opposing Epic Fury Now a Litmus Test. Matt Vespa at TownHall, Dems Are Proving to Be the Worst Partners in This Time of Crisis. Kurt Schlichter @KurtSchlichter, "I reject any allegedly right-coded ideology that requires that we allow seventh century Third World savages to murder our people and not pay for it. There is no expiration date for righteous retribution. If you believe that seventh century Third World savages can murder our people and not pay for it, then we are not the same." Quote Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie "The administration admits (Israel) dragged us into the war that’s already cost too many American lives and billions of dollars. Before it’s over, the price of gas, groceries, and virtually everything else is going to go up. The only winners in are defense company shareholders."At RVM, Scott Jennings Declares Massie and MTG Officially Not Republicans Anymore. ∞ Decolonize ruzzia @DecolonialFeIIa, "The "punch a nazi" crowd is literally defending a dictatorship run by Holocaust deniers Let that sink in." Fox cites JONATHAN TURLEY: Trump strikes Iran — precedent and history are on his side. From Da Caller, Sen. Fetterman Says Trump’s Iran Strike Was ‘Entirely Appropriate’ Response To Longstanding Threat. @instapundit @instapundit, "Big deal, that's like one Somali day-care center." Quote Polling USA @USA_Polling "The war has cost the US taxpayer $1.9 billion so far x.com/JordanUhl/stat…"

Hussain Abdul-Hussain @hahussain, "Notwithstanding that the picture is from Jakarta, does the Iranian foreign minister want to post a picture of the graves of the tens of thousands of innocent Iranians that his government killed in the streets last month?" Quote Seyed Abbas Araghchi @araghchi, "These are graves being dug for more than 160 innocent young girls who were killed in the US-Israeli bombing of a primary school. Their bodies were torn to shreds. This is how "rescue" promised by Mr. Trump looks in reality."

Matt Vespa hears A GOP Rep Called Katie Pavlich After Being Briefed on Operation Epic Fury. Here's What He Said Katie Pavlich @KatiePavlich, "I just got off the phone with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman @RepBrianMast, who was in the Gang of 8 briefing on Operation Epic Fury on Capitol Hill this evening. What he told me: -"The mission set for this operation is literally seek and destroy. Any piece of military hardware that can reach out and touch Americans or our interests in our region. That is a perfect mission set to respond to the imminent threat that Iran has been..." Althouse hosts Hegseth, "We are not defenders anymore. We are warriors.... We will finish this on 'America First' conditions of Trump's choosing..." Insty at his NYPo gig explains Why Trump and Hegseth’s swagger leaves Washington’s ‘elite’ seething. Dave Strom notices Russia's and China's Web of Allies Is Being Dismantled in Real Time. SuspendedCap @ContrarianCurse, "I’m not much of a geopol guy, but this is ultimately I think pretty historical stuff from Trump Facing an ascendant China and counter axis you got a few options. You fuck them directly with trade - but destroy the economy here, not possible Tried to finish off Russia, couldn’t quite get it there. So what do you do? Well take out the weak parts of that alliance. Russia is depleted and busy and China just purged their entire military leadership. They let two of their allies leaders get captured and killed without barely a stronger worded letter. They have no credibility. US is leveraging a historically progressive Saudi to take out the final, most barbaric actor in the region, secured the hemisphere for themselves, and have now left Russia and China isolated from the rest of the world militarily. It’s a pretty high risk/high reward play, but if you get Ukraine for minerals, Iran/Venz stable, Russia reintroduced, you have secure supply lines to have growth and disinflation. Every time a bomb goes off isn’t WWIII. This might be Trumps legacy achievement." Joshua Smith ♱ @JoshuaSmithJDS, "You left out Trump taking back the Panama Canal, attacking the drug cartels in Mexico, gaining access to Greenland, about to start the Golden Dome. It's all global geostrategy to counter China." In Da Mirror, Donald Trump 'very disappointed' with PM Starmer's initial block on US military base use. AAron Hancom at PJM, Spain’s Prime Minister Sánchez Slams Iran Strikes, Blocks U.S. From Using Spanish Bases. The Dank Knight @capeandcowell, "Remember when they called Trump crazy for wanting Greenland. And then the UK and Spain refused America the use of military bases."

Scarlett Grace @ScarlettGrace92, "Unbelievable: look at the number of flowers left in front of the U.S. Consulate from Iranians saying thank you to America." NYPo, Israelis and Iranians celebrate together in streets of London after Ayatollah Khamenei’s death. From Ace, Iranian Liberation Dance Party Goes Worldwide. Many Iraqi's welcomed us too, but we overstayed our welcome. Samantha Smith @SamanthaTaghoy, "The Iranian women’s national football team refused to sing the anthem of the Islamic Regime. Tonight. At the opening match of the Asian Cup. In front of the entire world. So, to all liberal Western women: Watch and learn. THIS is what real feminism looks like." Alice Smith @TheAliceSmith, "They didn’t want to show the Venezuelan people celebrating and waving US flags. They don’t want to show the Iranian people celebrating and thanking Trump. The leftist mainstream media are liars, traitors and sickening hypocrites of the highest order. BeeGe Welborn, Every Now and Then Someone Stands Far From the Maddening, Proggy Crowd. Nicholas Fondacaro @NickFondacaro, "WATCH: In a Facebook Live stream, Sinclair-owned CBS Austin multimedia journalist @VinnyMartorano refuses his bosses' order to spin and downplay the rally in support of the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran. In the video, Martorano is seemingly practicing for a live shot and noting that people were "celebrating the attack. He's then hand a phone: CREW MEMBER: [Hands him a phone] MARTORANO: What does that mean? CREW MEMBER: It means they don't want us to focus on this. MARTORANO: [Shrugs] All right. [Hands the phone back] Well, I am. RALLY CHANTS: Thank you Trump! Thank you Trump! Thank you Trump! Thank you Trump! Thank you Bibi! Thank you Bibi! Thank you Bibi! Thank you Bibi!..."

Yuan Yi Zhu @yuanyi_z, "The norm against the use of force to settle international disputes is an important achievement. But if every international lawyer's reaction to scenes such as this is to sourly lecture people to not be happy about scenes such as this, international law will be held in contempt." Quote OSINTdefender @sentdefender "Crowds are seen gathering in the streets of Isfahan, Iran following the news of the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during joint U.S./Israeli strikes earlier today. The crowds appear to be jovial." From Althouse, "Iran’s democratic opposition groups — monarchists and republicans, secular and religious minorities, leftists, liberals, and every ethnicity — are united..." ""... on four foundational principles: Iran’s territorial integrity; individual liberties and equality of all citizens; separation of religion and state; and the Iranian people’s right to decide a democratic form of government. Many Iranians, often despite facing bullets, have called on me to lead this transition. I am in awe of their courage, and I have answered their call. Our path forward will be transparent: a new constitution drafted and ratified by referendum, followed by free elections under international oversight. When Iranians vote, the transitional government dissolves.... A free Iran would extend [the Abraham Accords] by immediately recognizing Israel and pursuing a broader regional peace framework linking Iran, Israel and our Arab neighbors in cooperation rather than conflict. I suggest calling the agreement the Cyrus Accords, for Cyrus the Great, the benevolent ancient Persian ruler whom Thomas Jefferson cited as an inspiration...." Writes Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the last shah of Iran, in "Thanks to President Trump, the hour of Iran’s freedom is at hand/Our path forward is a new constitution followed by free elections under international oversight" (WaPo)." If they want a constitutional monarchy like the UK, that's fine, but I worry a bit about "regression to the mean."


Bob Hoge at RedState sees CA Governor Tries to Troll Trump Over Fuel Prices, but Is Savagely Brought Back to Reality by Gas Assoc. Vicky Taft at PJM, Gavin Newsom's Troll of Donald Trump Spectacularly Boomerangs and Hits Him in the Nads: US Oil & Gas Association @US_OGA, "Time to school the Pajama Boy who runs this account for the Gov - because this isn't the flex on Trump he thinks it is.... California imports 63% of is crude from foreign countries - despite sitting on at least 1.7 billion barrels of proven reserves. According to the California Energy Commission here is the typical break down of where that foreign-sourced crude supplied to California refineries comes from: Iraq: ~21% Brazil: ~20% Guyana: ~16%. Ecuador: ~14%. Colombia: ~6% Canada: ~4% Mexico: ~4% United Arab Emirates (UAE): ~2%. Others like Saudi Arabia will total the rest of the 100% foreign share. The only state worried about rattling foreign markets is California because you have let yourselves become dependent on foreign supplies. You've done this to yourselves." Quote Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice "Average gas prices in California have stayed below $5 for nearly two years. Trump’s new war is already rattling markets. We’re watching this space. Closely." At Althouse, "In the before times, I was very wary of candidates whose quest for the presidency seemed too insistent and all-consuming..." "Writes Frank Bruni, in "Will a Peacock Like Gavin Newsom Fly?" (NYT)."

From Liberty Unyielding, Convicted criminal with long history of arrests allegedly stabs woman to death in Fairfax County. Ace, Virginia's New AWFUL Governor, a "Moderate" Democrat and CIA Stooge, Releases Illegal Alien Arrested Over 30 Times to the Streets; He Immediately Stabs a US Citizen to Death at Bus Stop ""Moderate" Democrat = Islamofascist communist and terrorist. Fairfax County refused to turn this dangerous and now murderous illegal alien over to DHS." WJ calls it Typical: Virginia Democrats Are Addressing Affordability Issues by Nearly Tripling Their Own Pay. At AMAC, Virginia Gerrymandering Is About Demographics, Not Democracy "...this political restructuring has less to do with internal migration and more to do with the mass importation of voters from abroad – part of an intentional strategy by Democrats to weaponize immigration to rig the game against Republicans. In many parts of NOVA, more than a quarter of the population is foreign-born – a trend that has coincided with growing Democrat dominance."

Breitbart, FBI on Austin Mass Shooting: Evidence Indicates ‘Potential Nexus to Terrorism’ — Koran Found in Shooters Car. Capt. Ed, 'Property of Allah': Austin Mass Shooter Might Have Terror 'Nexus' To ... tantum @QuasLacrimas, "Mehdi Hasan has two modes: “offended you question Muslims loyalty” and “threatening you with fifth-column Muslim terrorism”" Quote Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan, "Scott Jennings thinks “terrorism” stops “‘now” because of Trump’s attack on Iran. Pretty sure he has just energized extremists and given them an excuse to attack Americans. Every president who starts wars in the MidEast ends up becoming a recruiting sergeant for terror groups. x.com/scottjenningsk…"Kurt Schlichter warns us to Be Armed and Ready – the Asymmetrical Battlefield Could Be Here at Home.

Da Blaze is pretty happy, Pam Bondi drops hammer on 30 more anti-ICE agitators accused of storming Minnesota church "This makes 39 indictments in the Cities Church case total so far, including the arrest of Don Lemon and multiple alleged leaders of the riot last month," Patel stated. "Let it be known: This FBI will never tolerate anyone who targets, intimidates, or attacks Americans peacefully exercising their right to worship freely."
At NYPo Charles Gasparino tells the amusing tale of How tampons in the men’s room helped derail the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal.
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