“The FBI is investigating [sic] Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who resigned earlier this week over opposition to the U.S. ongoing war with Iran, over allegedly leaking classified information, The Hill’s sister network confirmed on Wednesday. The agency’s [PR witch hunt] was [supposedly] underway before Kent, a top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, announced his resignation from the post on Tuesday, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the U.S. and urging President Trump to change course regarding the Middle East conflict, a source told NewsNation. The FBI declined to comment when reached by The Hill.” ()3/18/26)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom
“U.S. military bases in the Middle East have served as a key launchpad for American attacks on Iran. But they’ve also served as a vulnerable target for retaliation. In less than two weeks, the Iranian military has fired thousands of missiles and drones at these bases, killing seven U.S. soldiers and wounding at least 140 more. So it is that America’s war of choice in Iran has exposed the dangers and futility of U.S. overseas bases. In order to minimize the risk of future wars and reduce the threat faced by allies and partners, the United States should learn from this war and begin shuttering these outposts.” (03/18/26)
“The latest heavy fighting between warring parties along Sudan ’s border with Chad has killed 17 people and many wounded, a medical group said. The attacks on Monday in Tina left 66 people in serious condition, Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF, said in a post on X late Tuesday. The army said in an update that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, had expanded its attacks on military areas in Tina, but that troops were able to repel them and forced them to withdraw.” (03/18/26)
“Every few weeks, a Trump administration official comes up with an insane plan that would devastate some American industry, region, or demographic. Maybe an Undersecretary of the Interior decides that aluminum is ‘woke’ and should be banned. … You’ve got to find someone who’s supported Trump until now, built up a reputation for loyalty, but this one time they finally snap and cash in some of their favors and agree to speak out. Sometimes it’s because they’re an aluminum magnate themselves and this would destroy their business. Other times they’re just a think tank guy or influencer who happens to be really knowledgeable on this one issue and willing to take a stand on it. By such people is the world preserved.” (03/18/26)
“Five years ago, when pro-Israel groups began spending to beat left-wing candidates, their raison d’etre didn’t really become an issue in their races. UDP and the Democratic Majority for Israel didn’t focus on the Jewish state in their advertising. Progressives, winning or losing to them, didn’t talk about it either. But nowadays, unconditional US aid to Israel is deeply unpopular with Democratic voters, who are more likely than ever to sympathize with Palestinians over the Jewish state. That’s an existential threat to AIPAC. Why hasn’t it translated clearly into more primary victories for critics of the Netanyahu government?” (03/18/26)
“Cryptocurrency payments and gift card platform Bitrefill has blamed the North Korea-linked hacking group Lazarus for a cyberattack on March 1, 2026, that compromised parts of its infrastructure and cryptocurrency wallets. The attackers gained access to production keys, transferred funds from hot wallets, and exposed 18,500 purchase records containing emails, payment addresses, and IP addresses. Approximately 1,000 records included encrypted usernames. Affected users were notified. Operations have resumed, with the company announcing to cover losses from operational capital. The incident underscores the importance of vigilance regarding crypto and on-chain security.” (03/18/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“When I read what the feds did to secure the conviction of Ian Freeman for money-laundering, I was absolutely shocked. What they did perfectly exemplified the moral rot that exists within the federal criminal-justice system that operates within the statist box. Moreover, what is equally shocking to me is what appeared to me to be an utter lack of deep moral outrage by the federal judges in the case, both at the district-court level and the appellate-court level.” (03/18/26)
“The Pentagon is making plans to have AI companies train versions of their models specifically for military use on classified information, according to the MIT Technology Review. If true, it wouldn’t come as a surprise, seeing as the US is aiming to become an ‘AI-first’ warfighting force, based on the statement released by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier this year. The department is already using AI models in the military: For instance, the US reportedly used Anthropic’s Claude to help with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and with its attack on Iran, even after President Trump ordered federal agencies to ban its technology. But models trained on actual classified data could give more accurate and detailed responses, say, for situations similar to what happened in the past that aren’t public information.” (03/18/26)
“Robby Soave delivers his radar on the resignation of Joe Kent, a senior counterterrorism official in the Trump administration, who stepped down citing his disapproval of America’s military escalation with Iran.” (03/18/26)
