Out of the browsers the tabbies rip, repeating to the sound of the clicks…
Wow.
Douglas Murray. A single minute.
Give yourself a single minute to listen to this.
This man is something else 👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/HRLUAfokCH
— Kosher (@koshercockney) March 18, 2026
Ed: Perhaps Murray has finally connected the dots as to why the Western Left supports Islamist entities like Hamas and Iran, despite their practices countering nearly every issue they claim to hold dear. The progressive Left embraces the culture of death, from abortion to euthanasia, and from ‘gender’ nihilism to the end of procreation. Anyway, spend a minute on Murray’s more specific point; it’s well worth it.
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WSJ: Hegseth was specifically asked about a Washington Post report that said the Pentagon would request $200 billion for the war. “As far as $200 billion, I think that number could move,” he said.
The money, which would be in addition to the Pentagon’s annual budget for 2026 already approved by Congress, would “ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future,” he said. The first six days of strikes cost roughly $11.3 billion, according to the acting Pentagon comptroller.
The request is sure to meet resistance on Capitol Hill. The Trump administration has largely bypassed Congress in attacking Iran, and Democrats have questioned Trump’s strategy and demanded more congressional oversight of the war.
Ed: That would put Capitol Hill Democrats in a tough spot. They’re already blocking funds for Homeland Security; will they also try to starve the military in the middle of a war? That may make them popular with the hard Left, but it’s going to look a lot different to the voters who will make the difference in the midterms. It will look like defeatism and pure pique, both of which are in abundance already …
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Starting to think that the “experts” who pretend that the regime in Tehran losing most of their leadership, their entire navy, their missile supply chain, and most if their military capabilities isn’t evidence of them losing might be the problem pic.twitter.com/dDa8Dmrl0m
— AG (@AGHamilton29) March 19, 2026
Ed: I’m starting to think the “experts” are of the same ilk that imposed six-foot distancing rules, mask mandates, and school closures, too. Speaking of newly crowned “experts” by the media …
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Joe Kent: “There is zero evidence that Iran was trying to build a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu is warmongering.”
The Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament: “We tried to develop nuclear weapons, but couldn’t keep it secret.”
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) March 19, 2026
Ed: There is no reason to enrich uranium to 60% other than to produce nuclear warheads. None. No peaceful use at all at that enrichment level. This is not even a debate, except among the deliberately obtuse.
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NY Post: Iranian leaders call the US the “Great Satan” and burn effigies of President Donald Trump in the streets — but that doesn’t stop them sending their kids over here to learn. …
The daughter of Iran’s de facto leader Ali Larijani, who was killed in an airstrike Tuesday, is a medical doctor who taught at Emory University in Atlanta.
Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani was, until recently, a doctor at the university’s prestigious Winship Institute until the university parted ways with her in January, according to reports, following pressure from dissidents. …
In New York, Leila Khatami, the daughter of former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, teaches mathematics at Union College in Schenectady.
Mohammad Khatami was president from 1997 and 2005, and while he is considered a reformist within the country’s political system, dissidents say he was still part of a government that condoned human rights abuses and repression of its own citizens.
Ed: Unless they have applied for asylum, the US should begin expelling any relatives of Iranian regime leaders. They should never have been allowed to enter in the first place.
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.@CIADirector: “Iran possesses at least 440kg of uranium enriched to weapons-grade 60% — which doesn’t have a civilian use. The only use for that would be the development of nuclear weapons.” https://t.co/1JxS1Z4RwV pic.twitter.com/ljH8nfrAER
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 19, 2026
Ed: See above, but this is worth featuring just to emphasize the point. Everyone knows what Iran wanted to do. Everyone knows how close they got to it. And everyone knows what the mullahs would have done once they developed nuclear weapons.
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Jerusalem Post: Dr. Najah Al-Otaibi, a Saudi researcher and analyst specializing in international relations and the Gulf region, told The Post that Iran’s attacks constitute “a betrayal of the diplomatic detente” established in 2023.
“The Gulf Cooperative Council, especially Riyadh, feels it has invested significant capital into rapprochement, only for Iran to respond with ballistic missiles!” she said, adding that Doha’s decision is “more than symbolic” but a “major break” from what has been seen during the conflict so far.
Doha has acted as a mediator between the GCC and Tehran for years, but the continuous attacks on Qatar and its gas facilities “have shattered this role, forcing Doha to align firmly with Riyadh and Washington,” Otaibi explained.
Ed: Better late than never, of course, but the US should have forced this issue with Qatar years ago. Qatar certainly had to know what the Iranian regime wanted from its nuclear development and what it would do with its end product, but it helped Iran stall for years rather than deal with the existential threat developing. Qatar has also been a funding source for metastasizing Islamist influence in the West, which is an issue we should pursue more robustly now that Qatar’s value as a mediator has been essentially zeroed out by Tehran.
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Chairman of the JCS General Gen. Dan Caine:
“The A-10 Warthog is now in the fight across the southern flank and is hunting and killing fast attack watercraft in the Straits of Hormuz.” pic.twitter.com/w9JCg0PJDQ
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 19, 2026
Ed: The Air Force keeps trying to retire the A-10. It keeps proving its usefulness in combat. See more below.
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Business Insider: The A-10, more commonly known as the Warthog, is a close-air support aircraft that was introduced in the 1970s; it was intended as a tank-killer able to blunt a Soviet armored assault. Though it carries rockets, missiles, and bombs, the aircraft is best known for its 30mm GAU-8 Avenger seven-barrel Gatling-style autocannon.
Air Force leadership has previously said the A-10’s retirement is necessary because “the aircraft does not deter or survive against our pacing challenge,” a reference to China. The service has been looking to F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters to fulfill A-10 missions.
During the Pentagon’s Operation Epic Fury update, Caine also said AH-64 Apache attack helicopters “have joined the fight on the southern flank” as well, including helicopters flown by US allies, “to handle one-way attack drones.”
Apache helicopters have also been striking Iranian-aligned militia groups in Iraq, he added, to suppress threats in the country against the US.
Ed: The Army also wants to replace the Apaches. largely with drones. These decisions are made with a conflict against a major power in mind, such as China or Russia. Right now, though, both platforms are looking pretty handy, especially in the kind of asymmetrical threat environment we face right now in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
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Bessent: “The regime will probably collapse within itself” pic.twitter.com/Idb8O8gsYq
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 19, 2026
Ed: I hadn’t heard anything firm on leadership defections, but it wouldn’t be too surprising if it’s happening. The wiring of money out of the country would be even less surprising. If Secretary Bessent wants to redirect those wire transfers, though, I’d be happy to act as a beneficiary – er, trustee.
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John Nolte at Breitbart: And like everything about the left, this week’s destruction of Chavez is purely political. That’s not to say that the just-revealed allegations that Chavez raped his legendary ally, Dolores Huerta, and repeatedly molested and raped two underage girls are false. Based on the reporting I’ve seen and what I already knew about Chavez, if I had to bet the house, I’d bet the allegations are true.
What I know for a fact, though, is two things: 1) the timing is political, and 2) New Media forced the women to come forward.
You see, this year is the 99th anniversary of Chavez’s birth (he died in 1993), and celebrations had been planned for this event all over the country. Next year, though… Wow. One-hundred years. That’s the biggie, and you can bet that were it not for New Media, the left planned to feast on that anniversary.
There is just one inconvenient fact about the left’s secular saint…
Cesar Chavez opposed illegal immigration every bit as much as Donald J. Trump.
Ed: I find this sudden accountability curious too, to say the least. Why did it take 33 years for this to get exposed? Why not in 2017, when the #MeToo movement erupted? John’s explanation is as good as any I’ve heard so far.
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Man, I thought I was just kiddinghttps://t.co/J27obPFRx7
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) March 19, 2026
Ed: The Left always erases rather than puts in context. It’s the Ministry of Truth, every time.
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Asked why he didn’t coordinate with allies before going to war with Iran, Trump says, “We didn’t tell anyone about it. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?” pic.twitter.com/f1NrTqtShY
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 19, 2026
Ed: Too soon? Also, it’s a little rich calling this a surprise attack, since Trump assembled an armada in full view and told Iran that time was running out on a deal.
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