Orlando MayorquÃn and Chris Hippensteel (NEW YORK TIMES) report:\
The Pentagon on Saturday identified the six United States service members who died this week when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq amid the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and the wider conflict in the Middle East.
The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Ala.; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky.; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.
U.S. Central Command had stated that the aircraft crashed after an incident involving another plane, which landed safely. The crash, which happened Thursday in western Iraq, was not a result of hostile or friendly fire, the Central Command said.
The six deaths bring the announced total of service members killed in the Iran War to 13. The Iran War is a war of choice started by Donald Chump and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Donald Chump has started his would-be forever war. It's alarmed some of his supporters. David McAfee (RAW STORY) notes:
Comedian Tim Dillon, an influencer with a wide male fanbase who advocated hard for President Donald Trump during the election but has grown more critical of the president in recent months, weighed in on the Iran issue in a recent podcast.
Specifically, the "manosphere" influencer said of Trump, "He's at the end of his life. He's endorsing Jake Paul for president. He doesn't care about what happens next. That's the thing with Donald Trump, he doesn't really care about what happens next…Trump is just kind of on a farewell tour."
Even his supporters realize now that he's out of control. They can pin it on his age or his dementia but those were in place back in the lead up to the 2024 election. Be nice to see some ownership from those slowly realizing that Chump is a threat to democracy and the world.
Monday, Michael Tomsky (THE NEW REPUBLIC) pointed out, "None of us knows how long this war is going to last. But it’s certainly no Venezuela, which took -- ready? -- two and a half hours. Donald Trump may have told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the weekend that the war was 'already won.' But also over the weekend, a prewar intelligence report was leaked to two Washington Post reporters showing that the National Intelligence Council, a panel of independent intel experts, seems to think that dislodging the regime could take a very long time indeed -- at $37 million an hour, a rate that is almost sure to rise, especially if ground troops get involved." Chump ignored intelligence and his administration of uninformed suck ups went along with him. They're toadies and yes-men. Erik De La Garza (RAW STORY) points out:
President Donald Trump was warned before launching military action against Iran that Tehran could try to shut down the vital Strait of Hormuz – a move now helping drive up oil prices and fuel economic fears.
That’s according to a new Wall Street Journal report, which revealed Friday that Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told Trump in multiple briefings that U.S. officials long believed Iran would deploy mines, drones, and missiles to close the critical shipping lane.
Trump acknowledged the risk, according to people familiar with the internal discussions, but proceeded anyway with what the Journal described as “the most consequential foreign-policy decision of his two presidencies.”
Chump's decision to stand hip-to-hip with Netanyahu will cost so much. And he's the one who made the decision that comes with so much stress, misfortune and death.
For example?
Ayurella Horn-Muller (MOTHER JONES) notes:
Up until the end of February, a steady flow of ships bound for destinations across the world would pass daily through the Strait of Hormuz. A narrow channel running between Oman and Iran, the waterway serves as the only natural maritime link between the Persian Gulf and the global economy. That all changed on March 2, when, after days of military strikes led by the S and Israel, Iran effectively closed the strait for the first time in history and warned that any ships passing through would be fired upon. Ever since, vessels moving through the channel have been attacked and set ablaze, and hundreds of tankers remain stranded. At least 1,800 people have been killed in the war, including Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top government officials.
The Persian Gulf is a linchpin of the planet’s oil and gas production; normally, roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas flows through the strait. Now, as it remains embattled, oil and gas prices have surged, and many experts warn an energy crisis is imminent. Restaurants across India are scaling back operations and warning of closures amid fuel shortages from the maritime blockade, while cooking gas prices are spiking in Sri Lanka.
Another world crisis sparked by the war in Iran may also be in the offing. That’s because the region’s oil and gas production has made it one of the world’s leading exporters of nitrogen fertilizers, which are indispensable to the global food system. To produce the chemicals used to grow much of the planet’s crops, natural gas is broken down to extract hydrogen, which is combined with nitrogen to make ammonia, and then mixed with carbon dioxide to make urea. All told, nearly a third of the global trade for nitrogen fertilizer passes through the Strait of Hormuz, while almost half of the world’s sulfur, essential in producing phosphate fertilizers, also travels through the corridor.
And David McAfee (RAW STORY) notes:
President Donald Trump's military actions in Iran are effectively functioning as a hidden tax on American households, economists warn, as soaring energy costs threaten to erase anticipated benefits from larger tax refunds this filing season.
Americans are poised to receive bigger refunds than last year, with the average federal tax refund reaching $3,742 as of late February—about 10.6% higher than 2025. However, the economic fallout from the Iran conflict is rapidly negating that windfall, according to a new report.
Since the U.S. military actions in Iran began, oil prices have skyrocketed, sending gas and diesel costs surging. The average price of unleaded gasoline jumped to $3.64 per gallon on Friday, roughly $0.72 higher than the previous month's average. Mortgage rates have also climbed sharply to 6.41% for a 30-year fixed-rate loan, up from 5.9% before the conflict.
The way Chump's destroying the US economy is explored further by Tony Romm and Colby Smith (NEW YORK TIMES):
But that was before Mr. Trump started the war in Iran in a move that has unnerved consumers and businesses around the world. Now, by his own hand, the president has upended his vision for the nation’s economic trajectory, creating a new set of hazards months before the midterm elections.
For Mr. Trump, the greatest threat is the rapid rise in energy prices, which have rippled across the economy in ways that have pinched American families even beyond the gasoline pump. The soaring oil costs have at times spooked financial markets, one of Mr. Trump’s preferred barometers for success, and threatened to aggravate what has already been a long, tough battle with inflation.
Gas prices have also undercut Mr. Trump’s lofty projections of growth this year, which he and aides previously pegged at 4 percent or more. Now, their talk of a boom has been replaced with a new round of speculation among economists over the odds of a recession, as families and businesses pull back in the face of higher gasoline prices and elevated uncertainty.
Not everything was as rosy as the White House had claimed before the war in Iran began. The first year of Mr. Trump’s second term touched off a period of immense disruption, particularly in the labor market, which saw new job cuts as businesses grappled with the twin shocks of a trade war and new technology.
But those weaknesses have hardly abated as Mr. Trump forges ahead with what he frequently describes as a “short-term excursion” in Iran. Speaking at a political rally in Hebron, Ky., on Thursday, the president barely acknowledged the growing pain at the pump, as he proclaimed his economic agenda to be an unfettered success.
“Inflation is plummeting, incomes are rising, the economy is roaring back and America is respected again,” he said.
A series of economic indicators released by the government one day later appeared to tell a different story.
Yes, reality has always conflicted with Chump and his statements. He's a serial liar and has been one his entire life. He's a con artist. And that people are still struggling to own this -- those who were stupid enough to vote for him in 2024, is an indictment against them. 2016? Okay, you didn't know. Even 2020, I'd give you a pass. But after January 6, 2021, we all knew. We knew what he was, we knw what he stood for. We knew he had no ethics. And yet the Joe Rogans pimped him hard. The Rashida Tlaibs attacked Kamala. That's how we ended up here. There was no excuse for it. Chump was well known as an unethical liar who would stir the public to the point of unrest.
David Dayen (THE AMERICAN PROSPECT) notes:
One of the more fascinating sidelights of our war of choice in Iran is how it has reinforced the devastating consequences of our hollowed-out industrial base, consolidated commercial sector, and overreliance on long intermediated supply chains.
For example, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz carries implications for not only oil but also fertilizer, right at the height of the spring planting season. About one-third of the world’s fertilizer ships through the strait, and without access, prices have jumped and farmers are anxious. Yet there are enough natural resources in the United States—nitrogen, phosphate, potash—to serve all our fertilizer needs; in fact, in the 1930s and ’40s one of the largest fertilizer producers in the world was the Tennessee Valley Authority. This production was wound down in the 1970s; today the industry is dominated by two to four firms, and that may end up having existential implications for hungry people the world over.
A more comically shortsighted example concerns our depleted stock of munitions, one of the few industrial capacities America has retained but which still is imperiled by concentration and outsourcing. These are of course the basic materials necessary to prosecute a war, and you’d think it would be the one item countries would retain the ability to produce themselves. But our trillion-dollar military operates more like a welfare program to help underprivileged Northern Virginia contractors buy second homes and luxury yachts, not as a force that has what it needs when it needs it. Pacifists should rejoice; stupidity in military supply chains puts a binding limit on how many brown-skinned people we can kill.
Of course, not everyone's suffering. Weapons makers are rolling in the money. C.J. Polychroniou (TRUTHOUT) interviews scholar C. P. Chandrasekhar"
Since the end of World War II, almost every U.S. president has initiated a major military conflict without congressional approval. Donald Trump attempted to portray himself as a “peace president,” promising to end the U.S.’s endless wars and bring troops home from the Middle East and other parts of the globe. But he has proven to be even more trigger-happy than most of his predecessors. In just the first year since his return to office, he has attacked several countries. On February 28 he joined Israel in launching an attack on Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader and targeting both military installations and civilian projects, including bombing a girl’s primary school in Minab, in Iran’s Hormozgan province, that killed more than 170 people, most of them children.
The war in Iran is illegal. In addition to murdering and maiming civilians and spreading fear and suffering, it is also causing collateral damage to the world economy and may very well trigger a global economic crisis if it continues much longer. In an exclusive interview for Truthout, C. P. Chandrasekhar, a world-renowned scholar of finance and development, explains how the war could affect the global economy. He is emeritus professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, where he taught for more than 30 years, and currently a senior research scholar at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
C. J. Polychroniou: Over the past couple of decades or so, the global economy has experienced various shocks and seems to be in the midst of seemingly endless uncertainties. Capitalism, after all, is inherently unstable, subject to periodic crises. And today, due to the U.S. and Israel, the war Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu initiated against Iran has sent tremors through the global economy. There are fears that the war will drive oil to $150 a barrel and that stagflation is knocking on the door. What’s your assessment of the way the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran will impact the world economy?
C. P. Chandrasekhar: I would not refer to the fallout of the joint, unilateral and unwarranted attack by the U.S. and Israel on Iran as a “shock.” The attack emanates from the most aggressive core of contemporary capitalism, and its effects should have been expected by those responsible for it, especially Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. If their assessment was that the fallout would be short-lived and limited, they were clearly wrong. The rise in the prices of oil and oil products is only the most immediate and visible consequence, given the crucial role of the region as a source of global supply. But even that rise is not driven just by the war-induced shifts in the supply of oil. It is aggravated and rendered hugely volatile by the role of large speculative trading multinationals subordinated by global finance, which may not control production but can influence supply prices. Capitalist and imperialist states today are at the mercy of these agents, who seize every opportunity to extract super profits. The decision of these states (especially the governments of the U.S., Germany, and Japan) as members of the International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves is at most a feeble response. Even if replicated, by depleting reserves, the move will only send a signal to speculators who assume that the war will last to bet that prices will only spike further. That would aggravate oil price inflation. Figures like $150 a barrel are at best guesstimates.
Thus, the real uncertainty is how long the war will last. Pushed to the wall, faced with the assassination of its supreme leader of decades, and confident (despite internal differences) that attack will not result in regime change and installation of a U.S.-chosen political leader, Iran shows no signs of retreating. The objectives of Netanyahu, both personal and political, are such that oil price increases and the implications they have for the global economy and the citizens of the rest of the world are not concerns. Occupation, genocide, and war are the means to pursue those abhorrent goals, at the expense of all else. But Netanyahu cannot pursue them by himself. He needs Trump to fund, support, and legitimize his actions. So, whether the war will last depends on Trump’s staying power.
The U.S. president is caught in a trap of his own making. If he withdraws, he admits that he made a mistake taking the U.S. to war despite his promise to voters that he will not repeat the blunders of his predecessors in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria; if he stays, he risks being identified as the principal agent driving the world to a crisis the dimensions of which are unclear. This explains the desperate efforts to rein in oil prices by restoring tanker transit through the all-important Strait of Hormuz sealed by Iran, by offering insurance to encourage shipping companies to risk their assets and crew to transport oil through the choke point and pressuring a recalcitrant U.S. Navy to escort ships through the strait. Such abortive efforts only prolong the war.
Chump spent 2025 antagonizing our long standing allies -- France, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, go down the list. And now? David McAfee (RAW STORY) notes, "President Donald Trump called for international cooperation on Iran policy in a Truth Social post, arguing that securing the Strait of Hormuz should be a collective responsibility rather than falling solely on the United States." He started this war and now? Now he needs the help of US allies. Russia's sold him out. They're feeding intl to Iran. Chump needs help. Big time. His request did not go well. David McAfee notes:
"The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both Militarily, Economically, and in every other way," Trump wrote, before shifting to call for international cooperation. He urged countries reliant on oil transit through the strait to "take care of that passage," promising substantial U.S. assistance and coordination to ensure "everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well." Trump framed the effort as a long-overdue "team" approach that would foster "Harmony, Security, and Everlasting Peace!"
The post drew immediate online backlash, with critics highlighting what they saw as a glaring contradiction: claiming total Iranian defeat while seeking help to secure the vital waterway, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil flows.
Professor Phillips P. O'Brien, a noted historian and strategist, described the message as "a work of art" worthy of preservation. He pointed out the irony: if Iran's military capability is "100% destroyed," why plead with frequently insulted allies to intervene in the Gulf?
This morning on WEEKEND EDITION (NPR), the Iran War noted:
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Today marks two weeks of the war with Iran, which has widened across the Persian Gulf and into Lebanon. Overnight, President Trump says the U.S. struck an island that is critical to Iran's oil industry. Iran vows retaliation. And an Iraqi security official, unnamed because he's not authorized to speak publicly, tells NPR that an airstrike hit a radar installation at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. NPR's Carrie Kahn is in Tel Aviv. Carrie, thanks for being with us.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Thanks for having me.
SIMON: And let's begin. What do we know about strikes on that Iranian island?
KAHN: President Trump says the strikes on Kharg Island only hit military sites, but he said oil facilities could be next if Iran continues to interfere with ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that 20% of the world's oil supply passes through. Kharg Island is off the coast of Iran. It's in the northern Persian Gulf, and it is vital, Scott, to Iran's oil industry. Ninety percent of Iran's crude exports are handled there. Iran's military quickly threatened retaliation and said it would turn oil and energy firms working with the U.S. in the region into, quote, "a pile of ashes." And while a weakened Iran is still launching missiles and drones at several Gulf nations, already today, Dubai and Bahrain are reporting aerial infiltrations. Yesterday, Saudi Arabia's defense minister says it intercepted nearly a dozen drones.
SIMON: The intensity of the war and the rhetoric remain heightened in the region. Is there any sign that Iranian leadership seems to be softening after a couple of weeks of bombing?
KAHN: Well, I'll tell you that yesterday, Iran's leaders were out in public. The governor brought out thousands to this annual pro-Palestinian rally in this huge square in Tehran. Even the president and the head of the regime's feared security forces were there. The head of the forces, he's actually listed on this new bounty the U.S. put out, offering up to $10 million for information on top Iranian officials. Here's a bit of that rally from state TV, and you're going to hear an airstrike hit very close to the crowd.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSION)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Exclaiming) Oh.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Non-English language spoken).
KAHN: And the crowd doesn't disperse. And instead, you hear people chanting defiantly against Israel and the U.S. Iran is sustaining relentless air assaults. Israel says overnight it hit numerous command centers of the regime's security apparatus. U.N.'s defense secretary says it's obliterated Iran's navy and has near total control of Iranian airspace. But in Israel, the number of missiles and drones from Iran have dropped dramatically, although yesterday, a cluster missile from Iran did spark fires in several areas and several sites in central Israel.
In other developments, Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:
The U.S. is deploying to the Middle East a Marine expeditionary unit that can conduct ground operations if needed.
Multiple outlets reported Friday that the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, which is based in Japan, is being sent to the Middle East, along with multiple other warships and fighter jets. The attached 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit has thousands of Marines and sailors and can offer land, amphibious, and aviation support.
Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt (NEW YORK TIMES) adds:
The deployment of about 2,500 Marines to the Middle East represents a new phase in the two-week-old war in Iran, as Iranian forces increase their attacks on the Strait of Hormuz.
The unit, officially known as the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, according to two U.S. defense officials, will be in an unusual position given the problem vexing the Pentagon: the Iranian military’s ability to mine the strait, a narrow waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes.
U.S. airstrikes have forced the Iranians to forego their larger naval vessels and deploy fast boats carrying mines that can evade aircraft. These boats would likely launch from an archipelago of islands closer to the strait.
With the arrival of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit from the Indo-Pacific region in the coming days, the Pentagon will be able to quickly launch raids onto the islands with infantry Marines who will have logistics and air support, said a retired senior defense official with knowledge of the unit’s capabilities.
That doesn't sound like a war that's ending or even winding down. And another evacuate notice issued today. Aaron BoxermanYeganeh TorbatiFarnaz Fassihi and Erika Solomon (NEW YORK TIMES) report:
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad urged all American citizens to leave Iraq immediately on Saturday after the embassy was attacked overnight for the second time since the war with Iran started.
The warning said militias allied with Iran had carried out numerous attacks on targets associated with the United States, including diplomatic facilities, American companies and hotels frequented by foreigners. It recommended Americans travel overland to neighboring countries because commercial flights were not operating, and warned them not to come to the embassy or a U.S. consulate in the city of Erbil, in northern Iraq.
Kataib Hezbollah, one of several Iran-backed militias in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, saying it had fired on the embassy the previous night. A video verified by The New York Times showed that a structure on the embassy’s roof was on fire. Two Iraqi security officials who were not authorized to speak publicly confirmed the attack but could not give additional details.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Warren: “Let's be clear, the Trump administration chose this war. They planned this war for months, and they made no plans to safeguard hundreds of thousands of Americans in the region. There is no excuse for this.”
Washington, D.C. — At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed the United States Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) General Randall Reed on the Trump administration's handling of the war against Iran, highlighting the administration’s failure to evacuate Americans despite spending months preparing for a war against Iran.
After the United States and Israel attacked Iran, the Trump administration dissuaded Americans from turning to the U.S. government for help and sent mixed signals about its ability to provide support. While the State Department posted on March 3 that the government was “actively securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens who wish to leave the Middle East,” multiple reports indicated that Americans who called the State Department number initially received a voice message stating, “Please do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation at this time. There are currently no United States evacuation points.”
“Let's be clear, the Trump administration chose this war,” said Senator Warren. “They planned this war for months, and they made no plans to safeguard hundreds of thousands of Americans in the region.”
TRANSCOM has previously supported emergency evacuations of American citizens. After war broke out in Lebanon in 2006, the State Department requested support from DoD within two days. TRANSCOM helped to organize sea and air travel to help get almost 15,000 American citizens out of the country and into safety.
Senator Warren questioned General Reed on whether TRANSCOM would help to evacuate Americans if requested by the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. General Reed confirmed that TRANSCOM would provide evacuation support, telling the senator the Department of State made a request to TRANSCOM for assistance on February 28, and they have provided some assistance. However, yesterday, TRANSCOM claimed that the State Department had not asked for assistance to bring home American citizens who want to evacuate the region.
General Reed also mentioned that Central Command has responded to the State Department's request for airlift at specified locations. When asked about the number of people airlifted, General Reed estimated it to be in the hundreds, despite thousands of Americans still reportedly being stuck in the region, and claimed TRANSCOM is responding to tasks as they are received.
Last week, Senator Warren led the Massachusetts delegation in sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding an explanation into the Trump administration’s “complete failure” to evacuate U.S. citizens — including Massachusetts residents — from the Middle East following the administration’s starting a reckless war in Iran.
Senator Warren concluded the hearing by slamming the DoD’s lack of clarity over the evacuations in the Middle East and the ongoing challenges for Americans who have been left behind.
.
Transcript: Hearings to examine the
posture of United States European Command and United States
Transportation Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request
for Fiscal Year 2027 and the Future Years Defense Program.
Senate Armed Services Committee
March 12, 2026
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On February 28, Donald Trump launched his war against Iran. By March 1, Iranian strikes had hit at least six surrounding countries, but all the Trump administration said to Americans in the region was “exercise caution.” On March 2, the State Department finally told Americans in over a dozen countries to evacuate but gave no real guidance on how to do that. As thousands of flights were canceled, the State Department initially told Americans to, quote, “not rely on the US government for assisted departure or evacuation.”
Let's be clear, the Trump administration chose this war. They planned this war for months, and they made no plans to safeguard hundreds of thousands of Americans in the region.
There is no excuse for this, and I just want to draw a comparison here. In 2006, the State Department requested support from DOD just two days into the war in Lebanon. TRANSCOM arranged ships, commercial charters, and military flights for nearly 15,000 Americans.
General Reed, let me ask you if the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense asked TRANSCOM for help to evacuate Americans. Would you provide that support?
General Randall Reed: Senator, I would.
Senator Warren: Thank you. General Reed, we're almost two weeks into this war. Have Secretary Rubio and the State Department made any requests for TRANSCOM to help evacuate Americans out of the Middle East?
General Reed: Senator, on the 28th of February, the Department of State made a request to my department for that, and we have provided some assistance.
Senator Warren: So you're saying they made that request back on February 28?
General Reed: Yes, Senator.
Senator Warren: So, when we called them yesterday, they said they had not asked you for assistance. Can you explain why that would be so?
General Reed: Senator, I cannot explain that.
Senator Warren: I just don't understand this. And you have been helping them all this time?
General Reed: Senator, what we have done is, through Central Command, have responded to the request for the State Department to provide airlift at locations that they have specified.
Senator Warren: And how much have you airlifted in this period of time? How many people?
General Reed: Senator, I'll have to get that number.
Senator Warren: Can you get me a rough idea?
General Reed: Senator, it's been in the hundreds.
Senator Warren: Hundreds, not in the thousands?
General Reed: That's correct, but I will say that as we continue to watch the situation, there have been other flights and other opportunities for American citizens to get out of the way. Some of that has been by ground transportation, and some of it has been by commercial charters by the State Department.
Senator Warren: Are you saying you're not doing more because you think that Americans who are in the region are currently being adequately served by commercial flights and private vehicles out of the region? Is that what you're saying?
General Reed: Senator, what I'm saying is we have responded to requests for specific tasks, in conjunction with the commercial flights and what TRANSCOM is providing. There are a number of ways to get our citizens out of harm's way.
Senator Warren: Okay, and what I'm trying to understand is why you're not doing more. Because I'm hearing from my constituents who are stranded there, who've been stranded there for two weeks, and they're asking for help, and they're not getting help from the US government, and you're telling me that you're not helping because you think they've got plenty of other ways to get out of the region? Or is it that Secretary Rubio is not asking you for that help? I just want to understand who bears responsibility here.
General Reed: Senator, it is the responsibility of all to care for the citizens that we have in harm's way, and as we receive tasking and the opportunities to do that, TRANSCOM is responding.
Senator Warren: Okay, so my constituents and other Americans who are trapped in the region are trapped there because Secretary Rubio is not asking you for help. Is that right? I just want to understand what's happening.
General Reed: We've been asked for help, and we're available to do that. And so as we are able and the conditions permit with CENTCOM, we are involved in all the coordination to meet our citizens where we can get to them and then transport them to safety.
Senator Warren: So, you have provided all the help you've been asked for, you just haven't been asked for more help. Is that right?
General Reed: Senator, we have been, we have been tasked, and we have responded to each of those tasks.
Senator Warren: Look, I understand military speak here, but I don't understand how it is that we could get 15,000 people evacuated shortly after the war in Lebanon, and now we've still got thousands, tens of thousands of people trapped in the region. And I'm not understanding what your answer is here, and I don't think the American people are either.
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The following sites updated:
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Phillips O'Brien on Iran18 hours ago
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Idiot of the Week23 hours ago
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Where Chump has led us23 hours ago
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Spring Vegetable Stir-Fry in the Kitchen23 hours ago
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BATMAN23 hours ago
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Chump's stupidity puts us all at risk23 hours ago
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