John Ismay

The Long March of Presidential Power That Led to War on Iran

The Long March of Presidential Power That Led to War on Iran

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...

Trump Says He Wants to Destroy Iran’s Navy. Here’s What to Know.

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

U.S. Submarine Launches First Torpedo in Combat Since World War II

Since 1991, Navy subs have launched scores of cruise missiles in combat, but the torpedo attack off Sri Lanka is a return to form after 80 years www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/u...

U.S. Opens Military Action in Ecuador Against ‘Terrorist Organizations’ The U.S. Southern Command said that the joint activity with Ecuador was an effort to “combat the scourge of narco-terrorism,” but did not provide other details about the operation.

Breaking News: The U.S. conducted joint military operations with Ecuador against “designated terrorist organizations,” the Pentagon said. The U.S. Southern Command called it an effort to “combat the scourge of narco-terrorism,” but did not provide other details. nyti.ms/4cld7aV

CENTCOM acknowledges using PrSM missiles -- a short-range ballistic missile that would have been banned under the former INF Treaty -- against Iran x.com/centcom/stat...

Eliminating Iran’s Ballistic Missiles Could Be Difficult

Trump wants to destroy Iran's entire arsenal of ballistic missiles as well as their production facilities, both of which are largely underground. The job is even harder as the missiles can be disassembled, spread out and reassembled later www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/u...

This x ♾️

A large group of people, mostly men, standing in the rubble of a collapsed building. A headline reads: "Strike on Girls’ School Kills 115, Iranian State Media Says" Photo by Mehr News Agency

At least 115 people, most of them likely children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ elementary school in Iran on Saturday, health officials and state media said. It was not immediately clear which country hit the school. Our reporters are trying to confirm details of the attack. trib.al/HxXybV9

US military begins search for fallen POWs in wreckage of Subic Bay ‘hell ship’ DPAA has commenced a multiyear mission to account for Americans lost in the WWII sinking of a Japanese prisoner transport ship in the Philippines.

US military begins search for fallen POWs in wreckage of Subic Bay ‘hell ship’

U.S. Confirms Three Service Members Killed as Iran Retaliates Over Death of Khamenei: Live Updates Three American service members were killed in action, the Pentagon said. At least nine people were killed in a small Israeli city near Jerusalem, as the United States and Israel renewed attacks on Iran.

Breaking News: Three U.S. troops were killed in action and five others were seriously hurt, the Pentagon said, announcing the first American deaths in President Trump’s war with Iran. Follow live updates.

SCIF = Some Closet in Florida

It's not just Harvard. The Pentagon is barring troops from attending more Ivy League schools and other top universities. The Pentagon is cutting ties with more elite universities, barring active-duty troops from attendance.

A military officer who hopes to attend a prestigious school said Pete Hegseth's cancellation of education at elite schools was deflating and may cause them to leave the service, BI's Kelsey Baker reports: www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-heg...

Austin Literary Event: National Book Award Winner Phil Klay to Lead Writers Colloquium MFA Program brings award-winning authors Phil Klay and Matt Gallagher to Austin for public writing workshop and literary event.

Texas people! The great Matt Gallagher and I are headed your way next weekend to run a free day of writing workshops!

Come join us on Saturday, March 7, courtesy of the Fairfield University MFA in Creative Writing.

www.fairfield.edu/news/press-r...

West Point cadet dismissed after threatening to release AI-made nude images of a woman Cadet Cayden Cork, 20, pleaded guilty to extortion and indecent conduct. The sentence included reprimand, forfeiture of pay and removal from service.

A West Point cadet was dismissed from the Army after he pleaded guilty to using artificial intelligence to create a fake nude photo of a woman and then threatening to publicly release the image if she did not provide him an actual nude photo of herself.

Read the full story:

...which we shed light on here: They were not only “advised” by CIA paramilitaries, but directly paid and formally controlled by them, even after they were ostensibly integrated into the Afghan NDS after a disastrous shootout between a CTPT and the Kandahar police in 2009.

They Fought for the C.I.A. in Afghanistan. In America, They’re Living in Fear.

Since 2022, Matthieu Aikins and I have been investigating the CIA’s Afghan surrogate commandos, known in Afg as the Zero Units but officially called the CTPTs by the CIA. These units’ existence has been publicly known since 2010, but their relationship with the CIA is still an official secret...

Trump, July 19: "All three nuclear sites in Iran were completely destroyed and/or OBLITERATED. It would take years to bring them back into service."

Witkoff, Sunday: "They're probably a week away from having industrial-grade bomb-making material."

As Trump Weighs Iran Strikes, He Declines to Make Clear Case for Why, or Why Now

“Rarely in modern times has the United States prepared to conduct a major act of war with so little explanation and so little public debate.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/u...

Live Updates: Trump Acknowledges That He Is Weighing Limited Strike on Iran

Breaking News: President Trump told reporters that he was considering a limited military strike on Iran to pressure it into a deal amid negotiations on its nuclear program.

You see this in Iraq, Afg, and every other civil war. Thanks to @pjmatt.bsky.social for pointing out the examples in “The Hardest Place” of the US military and CIA being unwittingly weaponized in timber business disputes (Korengal) and to settle old grudges from the 1980s jihad (Waygal):

This is what a large proportion of the violence in internal conflicts looks like: a state relying on regular people for intelligence, regular people weaponizing the state within their own communities, and security forces not knowing/caring what’s motivating the sources whose information they act on.

Where the U.S. Is Building Up Military Force Near Iran

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/u...

Military needs to outline clear steps to follow when service members go missing, GAO says Clearer rules for responding to service member absences could help save lives, according to a recent GAO report.

WATCHDOG REPORT: Giving U.S. military commanders clear, specific procedures to follow in the critical hours after service members unexpectedly go missing could improve the odds of saving their lives.

Made in the USA: How American-Built Weapons Have Wrought Destruction in Gaza - bellingcat Bellingcat has identified scores of incidents where remnants from munitions made in the US have been found after Israeli strikes in Gaza.

Our dataset, while only identifying a small fraction of the US weaponry that has been deployed in Gaza, provides new insight into a number of deadly strikes where US weapons likely killed civilians. Read the investigation by @easybakeovensz.bsky.social here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/01...

U.S. Aircraft Carrier Will Be Sent to the Middle East From Venezuela, Officials Say The U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford is not expected to return until late April or early May.

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its escort ships deployed to the Caribbean will be sent to the Middle East and are not expected to return to their home ports until late April or early May. The ship’s crew was informed of the decision on Thursday, U.S. officials said.

US military averaged just under one air strike per day in Somalia in the first month of 2026. The highest or second-highest monthly Somalia strike numbers ever, rivaled only by Dec 2025.

2025, the highest year for Somalia strikes yet, had 140+ strikes (10-15 most months).

Mexican Cartels Overwhelm Police With Ammunition Made for the U.S. Military

“Authorities traced one of the .50-caliber guns used in the assault to a store in Texas. The owner, investigators found, had sold nearly 500 guns that ended up in the hands of the C.D.N., including a .50-caliber machine gun and at least six .50-caliber rifles.”

So uh Ring just up and said they've got a huge centralized private surveillance network they can leverage all at once huh

In praise of librarians

MK-84 2,000-pound bomb with a JDAM kit hitting a building in Gaza after an IDF notice.

Bellingcat recently asked the IDF about the lack of evacuation distances in public evacuation notices in Gaza, which are included in notices in Lebanon, so interesting to see a 100m distance in the notice here.