Tuesday March 17th, 2026
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
Top Iranian official, commander killed in strike, Israel defense minister says
US government previously offered reward for information on Larijani
Iranian Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Larijani and
Basij Commander Gholamreza Soleimani have both been killed, according
to the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
"I have just been updated by the Chief of Staff that Larijani,
Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and the head of the
Basij — Iran’s central repression apparatus — Salimani, were eliminated
last night and have joined Khamenei, the head of the annihilation
program, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the
depths of hell," Katz said, according to a translation provided to Fox
News by his office.
The news comes more than two weeks since Israel launched a war against
the Islamic Republic of Iran in conjunction with U.S. President Donald
Trump.
Israel: 2 Top Iranian Officials Killed in Airstrikes
Israel said Tuesday it killed two senior Iranian security officials in
overnight strikes in a major blow to the country’s leadership. Tehran
defiantly fired new salvos of missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab
neighbors and Israel in a war that showed no signs of abating.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council,
and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s
all-volunteer Basij force, were “eliminated last night," Israeli
Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
Following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an
airstrike on the first day of the war, Larijani was considered one of
the most powerful figures in the country.
Oil Tankers 'Starting to Dribble Through' Strait of Hormuz
Oil tankers are crossing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's actions to
choke traffic through the shipping route have not hurt the U.S.
economy, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNBC on
Tuesday, reiterating the Trump administration's position that the war
should be over in weeks, not months.
"Already you're seeing tankers are starting to dribble through the
straits, and I think it's a sign of how little Iran has left," he said.
"We're very optimistic that this is going to be over in the short run,
and then there will be price repercussions when it is over for a few
weeks, as the ships make it to the refineries."
Hassett said there is concern that Asia may not be exporting as much
refined oil to the U.S. to handle a decrease in supply from the Middle
East.
Ex-Biden official faces backlash over thinly veiled warning to companies when Dems are back in charge
Louisiana senator condemns Susan Rice's threats against Trump-aligned companies, calls for end to political weaponization
A former top official in the Biden and Obama administrations recently
caused a stir after she appeared to vow political retribution against
companies once Democrats regain control in Congress and the White House.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., last week condemned plans for political
retribution he believes Democrats, such as Susan Rice, hope to enact
when they regain power and argued that both parties should refrain from
using government power to pressure their political opposition.
"What Ms. Rice is talking about is payback," Kennedy said, referring to
comments Rice, who served as Biden's domestic policy council director,
had made on a podcast last month.
Top counterterrorism official resigns in protest of US war against Iran
Joe Kent calls on Trump to 'reverse course' and 'chart a new path for our nation'
The nation’s top counterterrorism official resigned Tuesday in protest
of the U.S. war against Iran, saying Tehran posed no imminent threat.
Joe Kent said in a post on X, "After much reflection, I have decided to
resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism
Center, effective today."
"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran," he
wrote. "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear
that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful
American lobby."
In a pointed letter to President Donald Trump, Kent said the war marked
a departure from the administration’s earlier approach to avoiding
prolonged conflicts in the Middle East.
Al Jazeera op-ed praises US-Israel operation against Iran, says Dems, media critics are wrong
‘When you look at what has actually
happened to Iran’s principal instruments of power," the op-ed declared,
‘the picture is not one of US failure’
Operation Epic Fury is receiving praise from an unlikely source. Al
Jazeera, the Qatari government-funded news organization, published an
op-ed Monday declaring in the headline, "The US-Israeli strategy
against Iran is working."
"Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled
into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a
war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices
are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire.
US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the
crises. Commentators have warned of a long war... But this narrative is
wrong," the piece began.
"Not because the costs are imaginary, but because the critics are
measuring the wrong things. They are [cataloging] the price of the
campaign while ignoring the strategic ledger."
Fraud scrutiny clouds Schumer’s Obamacare credit push after his Pentagon ‘luxury’ spending jab
Senate Minority Leader advocated redirecting $93B in defense spending to the healthcare program
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s push to revive expired enhanced
Obamacare tax credits by contrasting their cost with Pentagon spending
is colliding with fresh scrutiny of the Affordable Care Act, as policy
experts warn the program is riddled with improper enrollments, fraud
vulnerabilities and rising taxpayer costs.
"We need to reform the ACA, not throw more taxpayer money at it," Brian
Blase, president of the health policy research group Paragon Health
Institute, said. He added that "government subsidies don’t make the
coverage more affordable. They make it more expensive overall because
you have to consider the taxpayer amount."
Blase spoke to Fox News Digital this month after Schumer made a viral
swipe at Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth for spending $93.4
billion in the final month of the last fiscal year, including millions
of dollars in luxury foods, such as king crab, for the troops.
Mamdani rips ‘genocide’ in Palestine at St. Patrick’s Day event — after he botches answer on unified Ireland
Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday compared the plight of the Irish to the
“genocide” in Palestine — as he used a St. Patrick’s Day celebration to
rip the “deafening silence from so many” on the Israel-Hamas war.
The Democratic socialist dropped the Gaza-related remarks as he hosted
Ireland’s former President Mary Robinson for breakfast at Gracie
Mansion to kickstart the Big Apple’s annual St. Patrick’s Day
festivities — though neither mentioned the plight of Iranians under
brutal theocratic rule.
“Who can better understand those who weep than those who have been made
to weep for so long? The story of the Irish, both in Ireland and in New
York City, is at one time a story of oppression, of subjugation, and of
discrimination,” Mamdani said.
He went on to laud Robinson, who was the first female president to lead
Ireland in the ’90s, for her human rights record and history of
standing with Palestine.
HHS Push to Reshape Childhood Vaccine Policy Blocked
A federal judge on Monday blocked key parts of Health Secretary Robert
F. Kennedy Jr.'s effort to reshape U.S. vaccine policy, including a
move to reduce the number of shots routinely recommended for children.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston sided with the American
Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups, which said health
regulators had acted unlawfully to carry out Kennedy's agenda of
upending immunization policies and warned the changes will reduce
vaccination rates and harm public health.
The ruling dealt a significant setback for the reduced childhood
vaccination schedule championed by Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine
activist appointed last year by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S.
Depart
Zelenskyy Meets UK PM, NATO Chief on Ukraine War
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due in London on Tuesday
for talks with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the British government
said, as European countries look to keep international attention on
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while the unfolding Iran war engages
world leaders.
Starmer’s office said that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will also
join the meeting at 10 Downing St. to discuss peacemaking efforts in
Ukraine and “the need to maintain sanctions pressure on Russia.”
The meeting comes days after the U.S. temporarily waived some Russian
oil sanctions in a bid to ease pressure on global supplies triggered by
the war in the Middle East, which was sparked by the joint U.S.-Israeli
strikes on Iran starting on Feb. 28.
Zelenskyy criticized Washington’s move to ease sanctions, saying it
would provide a windfall for Moscow to keep up its attacks on Ukraine.
What will Donald Trump's legacy be as a wartime president?
Trump has thus far proven himself the
equal of any of the modern presidents and far better than most. He must
remain tough, ruthless and determined
By Hugh Hewitt Fox News
Every American alive today has been living in wartime. Every president
since December 7, 1941, has been a wartime president. All of them. They
can, and should, be judged by how they have waged war, both "cold" and
"hot," against imposing foes and against dangerous irritants. Provided
he remains tough, determined and ruthless in this conflict with Iran,
President Donald Trump will be the equal of any of them and far
superior to most.
There have been stretches of time of largely noncombatant war since the
conclusion of World War II, stretches that look a lot like the
"peacetime" of the 1920s and 1930s.
From the fall of the Berlin Wall to 9/11 — 25 years ago this September
— for example, the illusion of "peace" was pervasive. Indeed, a "peace
dividend" was demanded and paid via deep cuts in defense spending
because of that illusion.
It’s well past time Dems ended DHS shutdown charade — before it’s too late
By New York Post Editorial Board
The United States saw four terror attacks on its soil in just the two
weeks since the Iran war began, yet Democrats voted yet again last week
to #Defund Homeland Security.
Are they trying to help the terrorists?
They also seem to hate TSA workers and flight passengers: Chaos has
reigned at airports around the nation, with hours-long security lines;
the shutdown has prompted 300 agents to quit and others to take
unscheduled leaves rather than work without pay.
Dems are holding the nation’s security and air travel hostage in a
purely symbolic protest to prove their hatred of ICE to their base.
