‘This cannot be sustainable’: The U.S. borrowed $50 billion a week for the past five months, the CBO says

 https://fortune.com/2026/03/10/treasury-debt-borrowing-five-months-deficit-warning/?utm_campaign

The U.S. Treasury’s borrowing showed no signs of slowing as the U.S. headed deeper into fiscal year 2026, with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reporting that another $1 trillion was added to the federal deficit in the first five months of the year.

The monthly budget review from the CBO, updated to February 2026 and released yesterday, showed that the government is estimated to have borrowed $308 billion last month alone.

Of course, with more borrowing comes higher interest costs on the debt. Between October 2025 (when the 2026 fiscal year started) and February, the Treasury spent an additional $31 billion on net interest on public debt, compared to the prior year. As a result, in just five months, the Treasury forked out a total of $433 billion to service public debt, which is now nearing $38.9 trillion.

Trump's Iran war whiplash clouds U.S. endgame

 https://www.axios.com/2026/03/12/trump-iran-war-endgame

Nearly two weeks in, Trump continues to send conflicting signals about how and when the fighting ends. The confusion has left both allies and adversaries struggling to plan for what comes next.

When Trump announced the war on Feb. 28, he laid out four objectives: destroy Iran's navy, degrade its ballistic missile capability, put a nuclear weapon beyond reach and end Iranian support for regional proxies.

On the metrics Trump has touted publicly, the war is going well. On the objective that most justified launching it, the U.S. is not there yet.

With no direct dialogue between Washington and Tehran, and with Trump hinting he wants new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei dead, Iran has little incentive to stand down.

US to give Israel one week to end the war

https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/03/12/us-to-give-israel-one-week-to-end-the-war/

A senior political source from the Middle East tells Israel Hayom that the US wants the military campaign against Iran to end, and has given Israel just one week to conclude it. The source also assessed that the regime in Tehran is unlikely to be replaced, because such a change would require either a ground invasion by troops or the renewal of large-scale protests inside Iran, something the source does not believe will happen in the near future.

According to the senior source, there is a major gap between how the war is viewed in the US and how it is seen in Israel. In Washington, the source said, officials are worried about the impact on oil prices, whereas Israel sees the war as an achievement and is celebrating it.

The source also addressed the issue of Lebanon and Hezbollah, saying that despite Israel's killing of Hezbollah's previous secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, the organization is still standing, as is Hamas.

According to the source, Israel is making a mistake by not fully pursuing diplomatic channels after the military achievements it has secured, adding that countries in the region could help advance such efforts, saying that the matter is sensitive.

Why time is on Iran’s side as Trump faces pressure to end conflict

 https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5781823-iran-conflict-trump-pressure/

Time may be on Iran’s side in its conflict with the United States as President Trump faces domestic and international pressure to end the war.

U.S. and Israeli military superiority has wreaked havoc on Iran, pounding its navy, missile launch sites and other assets. But the conflict is also inflicting pain on the president as oil prices spike and Gulf allies scramble to intercept a barrage of Iranian drones — all as the pivotal midterm elections inch closer.

“Time is on Iran’s side. They’re on their home turf. They have long planned for this. Iran’s entire defense doctrine was based around this idea that we face enemies that are conventionally superior to us,” said Jon Hoffman, a research fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. 

A changing battlefield: Five takeaways from Israel's war with Iran, two weeks in

 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-889809

Israel’s decision to strike deep inside Iran, knowing full well it would trigger retaliation, reflects a willingness to accept immediate costs in order to prevent far greater dangers later. It marks a stark departure from the earlier instinct to delay confrontation in hopes of avoiding escalation.

In effect, Israel has moved from managing threats to dismantling them. The calculation today is that waiting carries greater danger than acting – even if acting means putting your own population on a war footing for weeks at a time.

Seen in this light, Trump’s messaging is serving two purposes: reassuring markets and allies that escalation will not spiral indefinitely, while simultaneously maintaining pressure on Iran through ongoing military operations.

Iran’s Islamic Republic 2.0 is coming — and it won’t be pretty

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/03/12/trump-iran-regime-attack-forever-war/

There will probably be some sort of ceasefire, maybe soon. Tanker traffic will resume through the Strait of Hormuz. Bombing by U.S. B-52s and B-2s will stop. Iran and its proxies will refrain from drone attacks across the Persian Gulf. Tehran may haggle over ceasefire conditions, but that won’t matter much because its military power has mostly been destroyed — at least for now.

If there’s one lesson America and Israel should have learned in recent decades, it’s that military success doesn’t usually translate to political victory — in Gaza, Afghanistan or, now, Iran. The adversary keeps coming back. The Israelis have learned that they have to keep “mowing the grass,” the harsh phrase they use for the cycle of recurring violence. America, after avoiding an all-out clash with Iran for 47 years, may now be caught in a similar cycle.

But the regime survives. It has taken America’s best punch, and it’s still standing. Tiers of senior military, intelligence and political leaders are dead, but they have been replaced by others. There’s no sign of a popular uprising. The cadres of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hide among piles of rubble, but they haven’t been eliminated.

I truly wish that “regime change” were possible in Iran. This dreadful government has brought misery to its people and its neighbors and deserves to go. But that process is hard to imagine for hard-line intelligence experts in the United States and abroad who have been studying the mullahs for decades. “I don’t think we are going to break their will,” fears one senior Gulf official who passionately opposes the regime. “They will rebuild as long as they’re alive.

Shooter in Michigan synagogue attack dead, all others safe and unharmed

 https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-889806

Police are responding to an active shooter, vehicle ramming, and fire at Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

According to NBC News, no casualties or injuries resulting from the attack have been reported, other than the suspected shooter, who was killed.

According to its website, Temple Israel is one of the largest Reform Jewish congregations in the US, boasting over 3,000 members.

Netanyahu: 'No guarantee Iranian regime will fall'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/423853

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first press conference since the start of the war this evening (Thursday) via video conference.

During the press conference, Netanyahu addressed Hezbollah's attacks on Israel and stated that the Iranian proxy terror group would "pay a very heavy price."

"This is no longer the same Iran, this is no longer the same Middle East, and this is also not the same Israel. We initiate and attack with force. Trump and I talk almost every day, exchange ideas and advice, and decide together," Netanyahu said.

However, he added that he cannot guarantee "that the Iranian regime will collapse, if we join forces, we will repel the enemies time and time again."

The Prime Minister promised that "many more surprises are expected in the campaign. We have the upper hand, much more than we expected."

In a War of Words, Trump Always Defeats Himself WSJ

Trump lying about war as audaciously as Putin would

FM Sa’ar to ToI: Only Iranians can bring down regime, but they need outside help

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/fm-saar-to-toi-only-iranians-can-bring-down-regime-but-they-need-outside-help/

Israel itself cannot bring down the Iranian regime, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told The Times of Israel on Wednesday, adding that the Iranian people need outside help to bring down the Islamic Republic.

“Ultimately, we cannot topple the regime, only the Iranian people can,” said Sa’ar. “At the same time, we must say that without external assistance they have no chance to topple the regime.”

For now, the Iranian regime continues to threaten any potential protesters with extreme violence. On Tuesday, the country’s top police officer warned that any demonstrators will be treated as enemies if they support Tehran’s foes.

Despite Israel’s rhetoric of revolution, the Kan public broadcaster reported Tuesday that Israeli government ministers, following a security briefing, believe the fall of Iran’s regime could take up to a year, while the ongoing US-Israeli campaign against Iran is expected to end far sooner, with US President Donald Trump speaking variously about weeks or days.

Not a good look: SHOCKING MISTAKE calls Hegseth's priorities into question

Interesting quote from "The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time

 Hi – I'm reading "The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time" by Will Durant and wanted to share this quote with you.

"If I were to ask you to name the person who has most influenced our century (the 20th century) would it be Karl Marx? Durant paused for a moment and then replied: Well, if you use the word in its largest sense,we would have to give the greatest share of influence to the technical inventors, to men like Edison. Doubtless the development of electricity has transformed the world even more than any Marxian propaganda. Then, if you think in terms of ideas, I think the influence of Darwin is still greater than the influence of Marx, but in a different field. The basic phenomenon of our time is not Communism; it’s the decline of religious belief,which has all sorts of effects on morals and even on politics because religion has been a tool of politics. But today in Europe it ceases to be a tool, it has very little influence in determining political decisions—whereas 500 years ago, the pope was superior in influence to any civil ruler on earth. 

Start reading this book for free: https://a.co/0bOBnnoo

FBI Raids Trump