“On February 28th, the United States launched Operation Epic Fury. The goal of this operation, according to the White House, is to eliminate the threat of the Iranian regime. This is yet another attempt at regime change in the Middle East. While Donald Trump boasts about his new gold curtains, eleven United States service members have been killed, and it is estimated that the first twelve days of the war have cost a staggering $16.5 billion. Donald Trump promised peace during his second term; instead, he has involved the United States in a new conflict. This war was initiated without congressional approval, is financially reckless, and could have been avoided. When Donald Trump won re-election in November 2024, he made the promise, ‘I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.'” (03/18/26)
“For all the impassioned impromptu defenses of the current war in Iran, there have been remarkably few that have used the traditional criteria Western (and many non-Western) theologians, ethicist, politicians, and soldiers have used to evaluate the righteousness of armed struggle, the ‘just war’ principles. Even those leaders who have called the war ‘just’ have not engaged with any of the specifics of just war reasoning. The paucity of such efforts likely results from the fact that this war cannot be considered a just war when all the relevant criteria are considered.” (03/18/26)
“Everyone has opinions, usually on almost everything. Not all opinions are equally valid, though, and there are good reasons why this is true. It doesn’t bother me when people have opinions that differ from mine, as long as those opinions are based in reality and on facts. What bothers me is when people have different opinions based on superstition, lies, hallucinations, or some combination of all those. … This is common in what passes for political opinions, especially on the Internet.” (03/18/26)
“Markets may fail; governments may help. But much about market activity will forever be invisible. A pair of unlikely thinkers helps illustrate the limits of what we know and the need for epistemic humility.” (03/18/26)
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)
“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)
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)
“In our contemporary era, there have been a slew of controversies surrounding pardons, often issued by lame duck presidents. Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon is the most famous of these, but there is also George H.W. Bush’s pardon of the Iran-Contra defendants, Bill Clinton’s pardon of the financier Marc Rich, and George W. Bush’s commutation of I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby (subsequently granted a full pardon by Trump). Joe Biden does not escape scrutiny and judgment. … Is there anything that can be done to help us exit our pardon dystopia? As Trump’s second term proceeds, things are likely to get far worse.” (03/18/26)
“My first official act as the Marine Corps officer instructor at the Naval ROTC at Vanderbilt University in 1979 was to blow up a classroom. My predecessor had warned me that I would be teaching the evolution of warfare at the death hour (1 p.m.) after lunch, when the students were drowsy. He recommended an ‘attention getter.’ That day, I was lecturing on ancient Greek naval warfare and decided to use a cardboard scale model of a period warship to demonstrate the early use of fuel-air explosives. Frankly, chemistry had never been one of my strong points, and I apparently used more white gas in the mix than was needed. The resulting explosion blew the door open and set off the fire alarms.” [editor’s note: I had assumed the piece would be about the idiotic attempt to make the Corps no longer a complete self-contained force, but no, it’s another one of those “a noun, a verb, DEI” rants – TLK] (03/18/26)
