Top US officials, including the Defense Secretary have said that sending US troops into Iran could not be ruled out. But given public opinion in the US, such a move would come with political consequences for Donald Trump and the Republicans, especially with the midterm elections approaching in November. However, there are reports that the White House is looking to enlist and even arm separatist groups in the region to accomplish having “boots on the ground.”
from www.france24.com
03 World
China presses Iran for safe oil and gas passage through Strait of Hormuz – report
from seekingalpha.com
Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Uzubuk felt that his joyful approach to his slaughterhouse days were what made him the haikuist that he’d become.
Many, many thanks to Chris for filling in for me on very short notice. My sister and niece blew into town unannounced from Michigan to surprise me and were only here for 36 hours. Chris kindly offered to free up some time for me to spend with them.
We’ve talked about it before, but it’s worth repeating — President Trump and his administration work at a furious pace compared to previous administrations. The president’s work ethic infuses the entire administration, which enables everyone to keep a lot of balls in the air. That’s a very good thing given how many messes were inherited from the Biden administration and the general state of the world today.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has released a video of what it said were strikes on Iran’s drone carrier, the IRIS Shahid Bagheri.
The footage shows two explosions rocking a large vessel at sea. “Today, an Iranian drone carrier, roughly the size of a WWII aircraft carrier, was struck and is now on fire,” CENTCOM wrote on X.
CENTCOM said earlier that the vessel was hit during the first wave of strikes launched on Saturday.
A former container ship, the Shahid Bagheri joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2025. According to Press TV, its 180-meter runway was designed to host surveillance and combat drones and helicopters.
President Trump and defense officials praised the U.S. war effort in Iran on Thursday, claiming that Operation Epic Fury has almost eliminated the Islamic republic’s ability to defend itself and launch retaliatory strikes.
from www.washingtontimes.com
The end times are not announced by earthquakes or wars alone. The greatest sign, Fr. James Altman warns, is the apostasy unfolding inside the Church itself.
Joining John-Henry Westen, Fr. Altman draws on the warnings of Our Lady’s apparitions, Quito, La Salette, Garabandal, and the testimony of exorcists like Fr. Gabriel Amorth, who witnessed Padre Pio’s anguish over the loss of faith spreading through the Church’s own leadership. The crisis is not external. It is internal. And it has now reached the papacy.
President Donald Trump said oil production is “beginning to flow” from Venezuela as Washington and Caracas work together to restore energy output following the capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social, describing cooperation between the two countries as productive.
“Delcy Rodríguez, who is the President of Venezuela, is doing a great job, and working with U.S. Representatives very well,” Trump wrote.
Blurb:
The post Episode 5191: Attacks Continue ON Oil In The Strait Of Hormuz appeared first on Stephen K Bannon’s War Room.
from warroom.org
Canada’s defence chief Gen. Jennie Carignan said allies are in talks about possibly helping Persian Gulf states defend themselves against bombing from Iran.
Speaking to reporters at a defence and security conference in Ottawa Thursday, Carignan said a meeting is set for early Friday morning to discuss such a proposal among allied militaries and the Canadian Armed Forces would present a recommendation to the government.
“The Gulf states must also indicate what they need,” Carignan said in French. “We are in communication with them to get an idea of the needs because it’s clear that if they don’t need us… we won’t look at options to support them.”
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev accused Tehran of committing an “act of terror” after Iranian drones attacked its exclave of Nakhchivan, injuring four civilians and damaging an airport building, opening the prospect of the Iran war consequences widening further towards the South Caucasus.
from www.euronews.com
ABUJA, Nigeria — Conservative Anglican leaders have restructured their organization, signaling a break from the traditions of the historic Anglican Communion as they seek to reorder the 400-year-old church group.
The Global Anglican Future Conference, or Gafcon, dissolved its Gafcon Primates Council and replaced it with the Global Anglican Council.
The new council will include primates, advisers and guarantors, made up of bishops, clergy and lay members, each with full voting privileges, Gafcon general secretary The Right Reverend Paul Donison said in a statement.
Iran claims Revolutionary Guards drones hit US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Moneycontrol.com
from news.google.com
DONALD Trump has thrown his weight behind Iran’s Kurdish forces – offering air support and weapons to help them seize parts of the country, reports claim.
The US president and Israel are reportedly working to arm Kurdish militias in Iran and Iraq – in a fresh bid to topple the remaining mullah regime.
Turkey Formalizes Military Support for Syria’s Islamist Rulers While Entrenching Troops Across Iraq and Syria Middle East Forum
from news.google.com
US message to Lebanon: Assert state sovereignty and address armed groups — details LBCI Lebanon
from news.google.com
On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced that a large collection of tech companies had signed on to what it’s calling the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. By agreeing, the initial signatories—Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI—are saying they will pay for the new generation and transmission capacities needed for any additional data centers they build. But the agreement has no enforcement mechanism, and it will likely run into issues with hardware supplies. It also ignores basic economics.
Other than that, it seems like a great idea.
A top expert from the Center for Strategic and International Studies warned National Public Radio listeners over the weekend that U.S. munitions stockpiles could soon run short after the Trump administration’s strikes on Iran. The interview did not disclose that CSIS receives millions of dollars from major defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman, that stand to profit from the push to replenish those weapons.
The appearance came as the Pentagon prepares a potential $50 billion funding request to replenish weapons used in the Trump administration’s unauthorized attacks on Iran. The strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Iran so far and six U.S. service members.
China to inject 300 billion yuan into state banks, deepen reform of state financial firms The Business Times
from news.google.com
In China, after military purges, civilian officials are now targeted Наша Ніва
from news.google.com
Oracle Layoffs 2026: Why Larry Ellison’s US tech giant is cutting thousands of jobs again after $300 billi The Economic Times
from news.google.com
China sets lowest economic growth target in 35 years The Times
from news.google.com
Sri Lanka’s navy rushed into the Indian Ocean after receiving a distress call from an Iranian warship, but what it found looked like a scene from a disaster film: oil slicks, empty life rafts and bodies in the water after the vessel was sunk by a U.S. torpedo strike.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament on Wednesday that Sri Lanka launched a rescue effort after a distress signal from Iran’s IRIS Dena, which had 180 people on board. Navy ships and aircraft were sent to the area.
When Sri Lankan forces arrived, the ship was gone.
“There was no sign of the ship, only some oil patches and life rafts,” navy spokesman Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said. “We found people floating on the water.”
Sri Lanka’s navy said crews recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people.
U.S. negotiations with Iran broke down after Iranian officials openly declared their intention to enrich uranium to levels capable of producing nuclear weapons, according to President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff revealed the details in an interview with Fox News, describing a moment during the talks when Iranian negotiators made their position unmistakably clear.
“The Iranians made it clear from the start that they believe they have an undeniable right to enrich all the uranium they possess,” Witkoff said.
Afghanistan’s ground forces attacked Pakistan’s military positions at 16 locations along the southwestern border early Tuesday and fired on multiple points in the northwest, triggering intense clashes in which 67 Afghan security force members and one Pakistani soldier were killed, as fighting between the two neighbors entered its fifth consecutive day, officials said.
Pakistan “successfully repelled these multiple attacks” along the Afghan border, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.
Afghan forces carried out ground assaults in 16 locations in the southwestern districts of Qilla Saifullah, Nushki and Chaman in Balochistan province, Tarar said on X. In retaliatory attacks, Pakistan killed 27 members of Afghan forces, he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has had a change of heart, and after first denying the U.S. use of its military airfields during Operation Epic Fury, he’s now partially greenlit the idea, and our B-2 stealth bombers are expected to land at RAF bases in Britain and the island of Cyprus in just a matter of days.
Recent developments in the Middle East, including U.S. military actions against Iranian targets and reported damage to key export infrastructure like Kharg Island, have once again drawn attention to the vulnerability of global energy supplies.
Iran’s threats to fire on tankers trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz have created an insurance crisis for shippers, forcing oil prices to rise. At the same time, Iranian attacks on Qatar’s LNG infrastructure led the world’s second largest exporter to suspend production.
A new analysis from Enverus Intelligence Research finds that these events introduce a significant risk premium to oil prices, with Brent crude potentially facing an additional $10 to $15 per barrel if disruptions escalate. The firm’s baseline forecast had Brent at around $63, but prolonged instability in the region could push prices higher as markets price in supply concerns. Given that the Brent price had already risen by more than $9/bbl as of Tuesday, this seems a conservative projection unless the situation is quickly resolved.
It is one thing to watch the Elitist Media be as unpredictably biased as they go about their business. It is entirely another to watch them inject their biases into stories from the weirdest angles, as ABC’s James Longman just did.
Watch as the network’s Chief International Correspondent James Longman closes out the videotaped portion of his report by foisting the American “forever war” terminology upon an Iranian Kurdish leader who may soon send his troops to take on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC):
WATCH: ABC’s James Longman foists American political slang upon an Iranian Kurdish leader who may soon send his troops to fight the IRGC, accosting him about his feelings on “forever war”:
Turns out, one-way drone warfare is a two-way street.
During a briefing Tuesday on the progress of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran, Admiral Brad Cooper touted the success of a new weapon in the U.S. military’s arsenal.
And it originated with the Iranian military itself.
Update from CENTCOM Commander on Operation Epic Fury: pic.twitter.com/epEohq64Vf
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 3, 2026
THE PENTAGON — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth signaled prolonged U.S. military involvement in Iran on Wednesday morning, stating a surge of forces is “accelerating, not decelerating.”
Hegseth held a press conference at the Pentagon with Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to give an update on developments in the joint U.S.-Israel war with Iran and “Operation Epic Fury.”
“As President Trump said, more and larger waves are coming. We are just getting started,” Hegseth said. “We are accelerating, not decelerating. Iran’s capabilities are evaporating by the hour, while American strength grows fiercer, smarter and utterly dominant. More bombers and more fighters are arriving.”
I never thought I would say this, but this week has convinced me that the Trump Administration is possibly the first administration in decades to execute a politico-military strategy and shape events rather than just bounce, pinball-like, from one flashing light to another. Bear with me as I lay out what I think is going on, and feel free to excoriate me in the comments if you disagree.