The Aiming Circle

Iran Update: Day 6 - Lawyers, Guns & Money I’ve been wondering for a while about a theory of victory that does not depend on ground troops. To have any realistic chance of toppling the Islamic Republic the US/Israel need someone on the ground,...

Iran Update: Day 6 www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2026/03/iran...

What Are the Goals of the Iran Campaign? Plus: Ecuador’s military conducts U.S.-assisted anti-cartel raids, Russian and Iranian ships are sunk, and the burger-chain CEO social media wars have begun.

What Are the Goals of the Iran Campaign? Plus: Ecuador’s military conducts U.S.-assisted anti-cartel raids, Russian and Iranian ships are sunk, & the burger-chain CEO social media wars have begun | Morning Dispatch

https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/morning/what-are-the-goals-of-the-iran-campaign/

How the Decision to Start a War Became the President’s

Un-paywalled link:

How Presidents Seized the Power to Start Wars

Presidents have sidestepped Congress to launch limited military strikes for decades. Trump’s decision to attack Iran is an aggressive escalation.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/u...

Dishonorable Attack, Inevitable Blowback Hegseth called sinking of the Iranian ship a ‘win.’ It may lead to Ameican losses.

This ship was on a diplomatic mission. The US military could have captured the ship. It could have convinced the sailors to defect, press them for intel, or holding them as leverage. Instead it killed at least 100 mostly young men. Only 32 out of 180 crew survived.

Why war isn’t always good for defence stocks They win only if governments want just enough weapons—but not too many

Great context from The Economist: "After America fully entered the second world war in 1942 its government repeatedly 'renegotiated' prices previously agreed in contracts with weapons firms—always downwards and by a lot." www.economist.com/finance-and-...

And this was a strategy used by Israel against Gazans first

www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-...

Satellite images show Iran school strike hit more buildings than earlier reported The images suggest that precision munitions struck other buildings, including a clinic that was also inside the complex.

The images suggest that precision munitions struck other buildings, including a clinic that was also inside the complex. n.pr/4suyWcZ

US in talks with Iranian Kurdish militants over anti-regime operations Iraq-based groups have asked Trump administration for intelligence, weapons and training support

Iranian Kurdish armed groups are in talks with the Trump administration about whether they could play a role in the ongoing US-Israeli military campaign against the Iranian regime. This has involved conversations about whether to attack Iranian security forces in a possible ground offensive led by

This isn't getting any less true as the war goes on...

If anyone is friends with any Georgian air traffic controllers, buy them a nice bottle of wine. As guardians of pretty much the only narrow gap still available between Europe and Asia that avoids both Iran, the Gulf, Ukraine and Russia, they are under some substantial pressure.

This is a good piece, but I am struck by how he explains that Trump's brazenness has taken every 'congress must authorize' and turned it into 'congress needs a super-majority to stop.'

And I think the solution, to be frank, is in 2029 to put administration officials on trial for their illegality.

Yearning for the Apocalypse As chaos and violence break out across the Middle East in a war led by the US with Israel as junior partner, I wanted to revisit my research on Christian...

today at the newsletter, free: an adapted excerpt from my book Wild Faith, about evangelical Christian prophecies about war in the Middle East and the end of the world & how they influence US foreign policy:
buttondown.com/theswordandt...

Bibi’s Iran Goals Are Not Necessarily Trump’s Iran Goals Israel and the United States are united in pushing a brutal and illegal war that anti-Iran hawks in both countries have sought for decades. But, perhaps, not for long.

"We have achieved Schroedinger’s Forever War." New from me @zeteo.com

For years on my old blog I published the names of servicemembers who died in Iraq & Afghanistan. No other outlets were.

These are the first 4 Americans to die in the Iran War.
Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35
Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42
Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39
Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20

Uzbekistan’s Afghanistan Push Accelerates With growing trade volumes, infrastructure initiatives, and initial geological explorations in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan is testing whether economic interdependence and proximity can function as a…

With growing trade volumes, infrastructure initiatives, and initial geological explorations in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan is testing whether economic interdependence and proximity can function as a substitute for political recognition.

At least five American allies in the Persian Gulf reported drone and missile attacks, prompting the U.S. to close embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

As the war stretches into its fourth day, the death toll is mounting. Follow our live coverage: https://wapo.st/4cI44Bd

They’re Hiring at U.S.A.I.D. Just Not Anyone Who Worked There.

I wish everyone involved with this a very hypovolemic shock.

A photo of Donald Trump walking across the South Lawn as he returns to the White House on March 1, 2026, in Washington, D.C., overlaid with the headline, "The Regime Change President Who Won’t (or Can’t) Actually Change Any Regimes," and the DEK, "The Iran war shows that Trump is loving his military interventions — but they are never what he claims them to be."

Instead of articulating any reasoning or goals for his strikes, Trump declared a decapitation strategy and exhorted the people of Iran to rise up and “take control” of the government: DIY regime change. theintercept.com/2026/03/02/t...

The C.I.A. Helped Pinpoint a Gathering of Iranian Leaders. Then Israel Struck.

Trump warned that the US knew where Khamenei was last June and the NYT reported that these same sources and methods were used to target him Saturday.

That's remarkable for its boldness and for the Iranian regime's failure to adapt:

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/u...

How tanking, airlift could be strained by Iran ops Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security, told Breaking Defense that “the longer and more demanding the operation, the more likely tanker availability and airlift throughput become binding constraints on the overall campaign.”

How tanking, airlift could be strained by Iran ops
https://breakingdefense.com/2026/03/how-tanking-airlift-could-be-strained-by-iran-ops/

CNN Could Be Next Up for a Right-Wing Reboot Thanks to the Ellisons With Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN could be the next media property slated for a right-wing turn.

With Paramount’s takeover of CNN owner Warner Bros. Discovery, the network might become the next CBS News.

Iran War Dispatches with Tim Mak | Substack A pop-up publication to report on the war in Iran, through the stories of people on the ground. Click to read Iran War Dispatches with Tim Mak, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

We’ve launched a new Iran-centered publication where we’re providing up-to-the-minute coverage of the war from neighboring Armenia.

Want The Counteroffensive’s human interest lens, focused on the ongoing Iran war? Check it out via the link.

24,403 lawsuits and counting: How habeas corpus became the front line of immigration defense "We have to kick the door down."

Immigrants are successfully challenging the Trump administration's mass detention policy and winning release from ICE custody—thanks to a centuries-old legal principle and constitutional right. My latest for @motherjones.com:

Russian war bloggers are watching the US' new LUCAS drones — and fretting about Starshield terminals Prominent milbloggers raised concerns about what the US might have learned from Russia's war after the LUCAS was deployed in combat against Iran.

"This isn't just an evolution in military affairs; it's a genuine revolution," a Russian commentator wrote of new US drones guided by Starlink.

via BI's Matthew Loh and Sinéad Baker:

www.businessinsider.com/russian-milb...

America’s Invaluable Ally Having sophisticated, creative, and bold partners that can operate at scale is invaluable to the United States.

When it comes to conducting operations against Iran, Israel has been an equal partner to the U.S., and having “sophisticated, creative, and bold allies, such as Israel, that can operate at scale is an extraordinary asset,” Eliot A. Cohen argues.

"But remember that your editor’s job is not to antagonize you, it’s to make your work better. If they’re flagging that a sentence is unclear, it’s not because they hate you. It’s because the sentence … was unclear."

Like I said, every day he wakes up and thinks to himself "how can i make the worst, most unpopular decisions today"

Kash Patel’s latest firings ousted agents with expertise in Iran The FBI director gutted a specialized, global espionage unit of counterintelligence agents, just days before Operation Epic Fury.

When FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen FBI agents and staff last week for their role in the classified documents investigation of Donald Trump, he targeted an elite counter espionage unit that investigates threats from foreign adversaries and specializes in Iran www.ms.now/news/kash-pa...

Cutting the head off the Soviet chicken "By Dawn's Early Light" (1990): a contrived, late-Cold War, made-for-TV nuclear thriller

This week I watched HBO’s 1990 made-for-TV nuclear thriller “By Dawn’s Early Light” so that you don’t have to. You can make my sacrifice of 100 minutes of a finite life feel worthwhile by reading my DOOMSDAY MACHINES post about it: doomsdaymachines.net/p/cutting-th...