🇺🇸⛽️ Just 0.7% of stations offering gasoline today below $3/gal, according to GasBuddy data, down from 78.0% of stations three weeks ago.

National average at $3.94/gal- likely to go above $4 in less than ~48 hours.

🔗 Patrick de Haan

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 'Do Not Want To Die For Israel': Doubts About Trump’s Iran Strategy Spread Among Troops

The possibility of an American ground operation in Iran is growing, but one service member familiar with troops in the region told HuffPost the prospect would be "an absolute disaster."

As the U.S.-Israel war on Iran enters its fourth week and President Donald Trump orders the deployment of thousands of additional sailors and Marines to the Middle East, the troops he is counting on appear increasingly wary of the conflict.

Interviews with active duty soldiers, reservists, and advocacy groups focused on service members found some U.S. troops who are caught up in the war are reporting vulnerability, overwhelming stress, frustration and disillusionment to the degree they may leave the military. The reservists and active duty soldiers spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation or because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

A military official who is treating service members evacuated from the Middle East to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany amid Iran’s retaliation said troops are suffering from “inadequate force protection and planning” and already reporting a severe, destabilizing toll from Iranian ballistic missiles and drones that have been repeatedly striking American military facilities

A ground operation would be “an absolute disaster… we don’t have a plan for that,” the official said earlier this week. “We can’t even fully defend a single land base in the theater.”

A veteran and reservist who mentors younger officers told HuffPost her contacts are expressing a loss of faith to a new degree.

“I’m hearing out of service members’ mouths the words, ’We do not want to die for Israel — we don’t want to be political pawns,” she said. Another reservist in touch with current troops separately reported hearing similar comments.

“I’ve shared conscientious objector information six times in the past two weeks and I’ve been in the military almost 20 years — I’ve never had people reach out this way,” the first reservist continued.

There is no indication of a mass exodus from the United States’ 1.3 million-person military over Trump’s campaign. Sources described anger, but also a sense of resignation among many troops.

Many service members have long anticipated and prepared for a U.S. war against Iran, with some more senior personnel seeing that as justified given the country’s role in deadly attacks on American troops, particularly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But dissatisfaction and morale problems could make Trump’s campaign less likely to succeed — and hint at a lasting shift among troops that could have implications for America’s national security establishment.

The lack of a clear, consistent narrative justifying the Iran war is a key source of discontent among troops, the reservists said, demoralizing those who believe a poorly planned conflict is placing them in unnecessary danger for no identifiable strategic benefit.

🔗 https://archive.ph/G2pon

🇨🇺🇺🇸⚡️ — Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío says the country’s military is preparing for the “possibility of military aggression.”

Our military is always prepared, and in fact, it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression.

We would be naive if, looking at what's happening around the world, we did not do that.

We truly hope that it doesn't occur. We don't see why it would have to occur, and we find no justification whatsoever.

🇺🇸♨️ California is not just experiencing a heatwave on land.

A Category 3 to locally Category 4 marine heatwave has developed off the Southern California coast.

La Jolla in San Diego recorded a water temperature of 71°F (21.7°C) yesterday on the last day of winter. That's warmer than the average water temperature in August.

🔗 Colin McCarthy

🇮🇷❌🇺🇸 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

​"There is no longer any room for talk with the Americans. They deceived us with promises of no attack, and even after significant progress in negotiations, they decided to attack us regardless. The experience is very bitter, and trust is completely non-existent. Regional war is closing the doors of diplomacy for good!"

🔗 𝐓𝐌𝐓 (@TMT_arabic)

🛢 Oil prices to rise further on Monday as Mideast war escalates

Oil prices look set to rise further on Monday, having closed before the ‌weekend at their highest in nearly four years, after U.S. and Iranian threats to target energy facilities, analysts said on Sunday.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz ​within 48 hours, a significant escalation barely a day after he talked about "winding down" the ​war, now in its fourth week.

Iran warned on Sunday it would attack U.S.-linked infrastructure, ⁠including energy and desalination facilities in the Gulf, if Trump carried out his threat.

On Friday, Brent ​futures for May settled up 3.26% at $112.19 a barrel, the highest since July 2022.

"President Trump's threat has now ​placed a 48-hour ticking time bomb of elevated uncertainty over markets," said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore. If the ultimatum is not walked back, oil prices will spike on Monday, he said.

"It clearly means more escalation which means higher ​oil prices. Some are incorrectly thinking, however, that Iran may cave," said Amrita Sen, founder of Energy ​Aspects. "Trump is trying to show he can out-escalate and that way ends in scorched earth for Gulf infrastructure."

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-rise-further-monday-mideast-war-escalates-2026-03-22/

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷🇾🇪 American officials tell allies that the US will probably be forced to launch a ground operation to capture Iran's Kharg Island, according to two sources familiar with the matter - I24 News

*The same i24 News broke the story that the Kurds launched an invasion of Iran back on March 5th which was later proven to be false.

📝: RUMINT says that the deployment of American troops to Djibouti might have to do with a campaign focused on the Houthis not Iran itself.

@CIG_telegram

🇮🇱⚔️🇮🇷 IDF Spokesperson Effi Dapiran: "We expect more weeks of fighting against Iran and Hezbollah" — Channel 12

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 The Americans updated Israel that the operational plans for the Strait of Hormuz will take weeks - and therefore the war will be prolonged by additional weeks — Channel 12.

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸 The U.S. Ammo Shortage Is Worse Than You Think

The conflict with Iran is an urgent reminder that the U.S. needs a defense industrial base that can wage a high-intensity war against American adversaries—especially China. The Trump administration has taken important steps to increase production of some munitions, reform an antiquated acquisition system, and establish incentives for private-sector innovation. It is critical now to accelerate these changes.

Military planners should be particularly worried about China, which has vastly superior capabilities to Iran. The Chinese industrial base, which is on a wartime footing, has produced thousands of hypersonic, cruise and ballistic missiles capable of precision strikes, along with millions of drones. U.S. bases, aircraft, naval vessels and other infrastructure operating within the First Island Chain—which extends south from Japan through Taiwan, the northern Philippines and Borneo—are highly vulnerable to attack.

The Chinese threat makes it essential that the U.S. have enough long-range munitions and unmanned systems to strike ships, aircraft and land targets from a distance. The U.S. military also badly needs more air-defense systems and equipment to defend critical infrastructure. Empty bins won’t deter China.

The Trump administration has started to address some of these problems. The Pentagon has committed to rebuilding what it calls the “arsenal of freedom” and placing the defense industrial base on a wartime footing. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg established a Munitions Acceleration Council in 2025 to increase production of 12 critical weapons, from Patriot interceptors to Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles. He has also spearheaded efforts to reform a woefully slow acquisition system, minimize stifling regulations, and take advantage of an innovative private sector.

But more needs to be done—and fast. The Pentagon should urgently focus on fully funding multiyear contracts for several critical munitions that Congress has already authorized, such as the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Munition (JASSM), Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3).

In the longer term, the administration should make good on President Trump’s pledge to increase the defense budget by $500 billion for fiscal 2027. The Pentagon should use the money to procure systems necessary to support Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo’s Hellscape concept, which uses a mix of drones, long-range missiles and other capabilities to target Chinese forces attacking Taiwan.

🔗 https://archive.ph/XQINK

🇦🇪❌🇫🇷🇮🇷 UAE’s Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed calls Iran “terrorists”.

He also lashes out at former French Ambassador to Washington, Gérard Araud, for criticizing the UAE’s growing dependence on the United States for its security.

🔗 Clash Report

🇮🇱🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — Israel supports Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum to Iran and favors large-scale strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, according to Kan News.

🇺🇸🤖 Dario Amodei was right.

The CEO of Anthropic predicted AI would destroy entry level white-collar jobs before most people took it seriously. Now the data is here and it is confirming everything he warned about.

Fortune just reported that the entry level job market is the worst it has been in 37 years. The last time it was this bad, Ronald Reagan had just left office.

In 2025, the share of unemployed Americans who were new workforce entrants hit 13.3%. That is higher than at any point during the Great Recession.

A college degree in 2026 is worth less in the job market than it was in 2008. Finance and tech, the industries that built the American middle class are now shedding 9,000 jobs every single month.

Before the pandemic, those same industries were adding 44,000 jobs per month. Amodei warned that AI will eliminate roughly 50% of all entry level white collar jobs within the next one to five years.

The exact jobs that new graduates are trying to land right now. In a recent interview, he was direct: "I don't think there's a guarantee that we can create jobs faster than we destroy them."

The CEO of one of the most funded AI companies on earth is admitting he is not sure this ends well.

He doubled down in January 2026 with a 20,000-word essay. He warned that AI disruption will be "unusually painful", a shock to the labor market that surpasses anything in modern history. He said most lawmakers are completely unaware this is coming.

A Stanford University study found that workers aged 22 to 25 in AI-exposed fields like software and customer service have already seen a 13% decline in employment since 2022. Over half of employers surveyed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers rated the 2026 job market as poor or fair.

66% of executives at a Yale School of Management event said they plan to either cut headcount or freeze hiring entirely this year. Amodei's only advice was to learn AI, adapt fast, and find ways to create new jobs before the old ones disappear entirely.

He said the only move is to steer the train, just 10 degrees in a different direction. Nobody in power is steering yet.

🔗 @_Investinq

🇺🇸♨️ A dominant, persistent, and record-breaking heat dome.

This satellite animation shows the evolution of the ridge over the last 6 days.

🔗 Dakota Smith (@weatherdak)