The noise can seem overwhelming at times.  There are those who say the U.S-Israeli joint military operation against Iran is a catastrophic miscalculation.  There are those who say the operation is strategically succeeding.  Many interests even appear to be cheering for the military operation to fail; others want the operation to escalate.

It is difficult to find pragmatic facts about the events without shaped information to promote specific narratives.  However, accepting there is a psychological component to the information flow, it seems like the best option to listen to the experts who are conducting the operation.

Giving his first interview since Operation Epic Fury began, CENTCOM Commander Bradley Cooper outlines the current status of the conflict and the elements he notes are of most importance.  According to Adm. Cooper, Iran is “operating in a sign of desperation… In the last couple of weeks, they’ve attacked civilian targets very deliberately, more than 300 times.”

“The Strait of Hormuz is physically open to transit,” he said. “The reason ships are not transiting right now is because the Islamic Republic is shooting at them with drones and missiles.”  WATCH:

“I’d like everyone to note is I’ve watched this over the last week, this extraordinary contrast between the comfort and protection that you’re seeing with the senior generals in the Islamic Republic, at least those that are still alive, who are up in deep bunkers and facilities in and around Tehran. And contrast that with the soldiers who are down on the ground who are unprotected. The generals are protected. The soldiers are not protected.”

“They’re launching missiles and drones from populated areas and you need to stay inside for right now,” he said. “There will be a clear signal at some point, as the President has indicated, for you to be able to come out.”

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Margaret Brennan’s husband is a Syrian Muslim named Major Ali Iyad Yakub, who goes by the nickname ‘Yado’.  He served in the U.S. military. Mrs. Brennan studied abroad at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan, and Yakub’s sister, Samia Yakub, was her roommate. Mr. Yakub founded Y2 Global Advisory specializing in global intelligence, communications, and government relations. He also worked for Senator Joe Biden on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  Margaret Brennan and Ali Iyad Yakub have two children together.

NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte appears on CBS Face the Nation to discuss the European opinion of the U.S. military operation against Iran, and outline how many countries within the NATO alliance are prepared to support the ongoing effort to eliminate the threat Iran represented.  Video and Transcript Below:

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, who joins us this morning from The Hague in the Netherlands. Welcome back to ‘Face The Nation.’

NATO SECRETARY GENERAL MARK RUTTE: Margaret, good to be back on the program. Good morning.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning. We did see that Iran fired two missiles at Diego Garcia. That’s that island in the Indian Ocean, which houses a U.S. UK joint base. That was 4000 kilometers from Iranian territory, furthest Iran has ever gone. You just heard Ambassador Waltz say there might be a difference there in how Israel and the U.S. assess that capability Iran has in terms of what they fired. But Israel says these were intercontinental ballistic missiles that could hit Berlin, Paris and Rome. Does NATO share that Israeli assessment?

SECRETARY GENERAL RUTTE: We cannot confirm that at the moment, so we’re looking into that. But if this would be true, it is the more evidence that what the President is doing here, taking out the ballistic missile capability, taking out the nuclear capability from Iran, is crucial. And exactly as the ambassador just said, Ambassador Waltz, we have seen with North Korea, if we negotiate for too long, you might pass the moment where you can still get this thing done, and North Korea now has the nuclear capability. If Iran would have the nuclear capability, including, together with the missile capability, it will be a direct threat, a existential threat, to Israel, to the region, to Europe, to the stability in the world. So the president doing this is crucial, and I’ve seen the polling, but I really hope the American people will be with him, because he is doing this to make the whole world safer.

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Recently when the Anthropic software and ideology conflict with the Pentagon surfaced as a result of limits placed by the provider, alternative provider Palantir’s CEO remarked that any AI developer who challenges the U.S. military application of the product was foolish because the U.S. government could just take control of the company under the claim of national security.

In essence, Palantir CEO Alex Karp was saying AI developers who contract with the govt ultimately become bound to the limits or lack thereof as determined by the govt.  If software developers want to contract with the military, then fight the Pentagon over use of those software applications, they will lose.

In response to the Anthropic issue, the Pentagon withdrew from their purchase arrangements and blacklisted them from further federal contracts.

Now a report is highlighting that Palantir will take the lead position in providing the software, the Maven Smart System, for the core U.S. military functions.

As described, “Maven is a software platform that uploads information from drones, satellites, sensors, radar, and other battlefield intelligence sources. The system then analyzes battlefield data in real time, identifying and prioritizing potential targets — including buildings, enemy vehicles, and weapons and ammunition stockpiles — for intelligence analysts to review and act on.”

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According to multiple media and government accounts, Iran targeted the joint U.S-UK base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean with two intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM).

This is significant because Diego Garcia is 4,000 km away from where the missiles were launched and would indicate that all of Europe was within the strike zone as President Donald Trump previously warned.

Europe and the NATO alliance previously said Iran did not possess such capabilities. Apparently, they do.

As noted by Defense Security, “This attempted strike occurred around day 22 of the latest escalation cycle in the U.S.–Israel–Iran confrontation, reinforcing the view among defense planners that Tehran is prepared to expand its missile envelope to threaten strategic rear-area bases supporting Western operations rather than limiting attacks to regional targets within the Persian Gulf.”

“Diego Garcia’s distance of roughly 3,800 – 4,000 km from Iran makes the launch operationally significant because it suggests either the use of a lighter warhead estimated at approximately 300–500 kg or the deployment of a previously undisclosed extended-range variant, both of which indicate a deliberate demonstration of reach rather than a conventional strike attempt.”

According to the reports, one missile failed in flight whilst the other was engaged by a U.S. destroyer utilizing an SM-3 interceptor; however, as of this writing a successful interception was not confirmed.

Regardless, neither of the missiles hit the base.  Iranian long-range precision missiles have not previously been publicly assessed as having this kind of range.

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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, hold a press briefing at the Pentagon.

Secretary Hegseth and General Caine spoke of attending the return ceremony for the refueling crews killed in the recent combat mission, then gave an operations update.   General Caine noted the recent operation to drop 5,000/lb ground penetrating bombs along the coast to destroy underground missile and drone launch facilities.

General Caine also confirmed that A-10 Warthog fighters are deployed to hunt and destroy Iranian fast boat terror missions.  The media Q&A begins at 20:05.  WATCH: 

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The South Pars/North Dome field is a natural-gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is by far the world’s largest natural gas field, with ownership of the field shared between Iran and Qatar. According to the International Energy Agency, the field holds an estimated 1,800 trillion cubic feet of in-site natural gas.

President Trump is not happy about Israel’s unilateral decision to strike at the Pars gas field; however, pay attention to what Trump diplomatically describes as the motive:

[TRUTH SOCIAL] – “Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran. A relatively small section of the whole has been hit. The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen.

Unfortunately, Iran did not know this, or any of the pertinent facts pertaining to the South Pars attack, and unjustifiably and unfairly attacked a portion of Qatar’s LNG Gas facility.”

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Responding to questions about whether Japan would send military ships to the middle east to participate in escorts through the Strait of Hormuz, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi noted the current constitution blocks Japan from conducting overseas military operations.

Exactly as we outlined when President Trump first made the request via Truth Social {SEE HERE} Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may want to support the request, but Japan’s post WWII constitution about military operations doesn’t permit it.

Japan’s military can be constitutionally defensive only.

While an argument might be made that escorting oil destined for eventual arrival in Japan may technically squeeze within a narrow interpretation of ‘defense’, considering the operation would take place far from Japan a highly conservative Sanae Takaichi is not going to try and thread that precarious needle.

TOKYO, March 16 (Reuters) – Japan has no plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort vessels in the Middle East, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump called on allies to protect tankers traversing through the Strait of Hormuz.

“We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework,” Takaichi told parliament.

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CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper provides an update on the latest military engagements during Operation Epic Fury.  Commander Cooper highlights video footage and captured images of Iranian war infrastructure to show the before and after results of U.S. strikes.  WATCH:

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World War Reddit works both ways. In Ukraine the manipulation was to give the illusion of success for Zelenskyy. In Iran the manipulation is to give the illusion of failure for Trump.

The bottom line in both scenarios is the illusion being disconnected from reality.

[Truth Social] – “Iran has long been known as a Master of Media Manipulation and Public Relations. They are Militarily ineffective and weak, but are really good at “feeding” the very appreciative Fake News Media false information. Now, A.I. has become another Disinformation weapon that Iran uses, quite well, considering they are being annihilated by the day.

They showed phony “Kamikaze Boats,” shooting at various Ships at Sea, which looks wonderful, powerful, and vicious, but these Boats don’t exist — It’s all false information to show how “tough” their already defeated Military is!

The five U.S. Refueling Planes that were supposedly struck down and badly damaged, according to The Wall Street Journal’s false reporting, and others, are all in service, with the exception of one, which will soon be flying the skies. Buildings and Ships that are shown to be on fire are not — It’s FAKE NEWS, generated by A.I.

For instance, Iran, working in close coordination with the Fake News Media, shows our great USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier, one of the largest and most prestigious Ships in the World, burning uncontrollably in the Ocean. Not only was it not burning, but it was also not even shot at — Iran knows better than to do that! The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!”

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Perhaps the Ellison effect is actualizing inside CNN, but the insufferable furrowed brows of Jake Tapper were unusually non-combative today as he interviewed U.N Ambassador Mike Waltz while discussing Iran. [Video and Transcript Below]

[Transcript] – Joining us now to discuss, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret who served in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Ambassador Waltz, thank you so much for joining us.

The president just said that the U.S. has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both militarily, economically, and in every other way. Help us understand what that means, that Iran has been beaten. Does that mean that U.S. service members will soon be coming home?

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Well, Jake, let’s just unpack that for a moment.

Militarily, the U.S. military has decimated Iran’s air force, their air defenses, their missile capability, their missile production capability. This has been a dominant victory, the likes of which we haven’t seen in modern American military history, economically, the maximum pressure campaign that President Trump put in place his first term and reinstituted the second — as the second major item, executive order that he signed this term.

Their currency is tanking. Their foreign reserves are completely depleted. And that’s why you saw the most recent uprising. You saw the uprising based on economic terms. And then, diplomatically, we just saw this week at the U.N. Security Council 135 nations — Jake, it was a U.N. record — 135 nations side with the Gulf Arab countries and condemn the GCC — excuse me — with the Gulf Arab countries, the GCC countries, and condemn Iran for its atrocious attacks on civilian infrastructure, ports, airports, hotels, resorts. And, as I pointed out at the Security Council, I don’t see how the regime argues that those are military targets. They are clearly not, and they are clearly deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure.

And I have got to tell you, this shoot-in-all-directions strategy that Iran has taken on is backfiring. They have never been more diplomatically isolated. Just one more point. Russia and Iran had an opportunity to veto that measure, and they stood back and did not. They abstained.

So, with friends like those, I think Iran is going to stay incredibly isolated.

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