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On Wednesday, Israeli forces hit Iranian facilities in the South Pars natural gas field
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in the Persian Gulf, shared by Iran and Qatar.
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Helen Regan and Ivana Karasovah of CNN explained that the South Pars gas field is part of
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the largest natural gas reserves in the world, supplying most of Iran's domestic energy
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and crucial to Iran's economy.
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Targeting crucial oil infrastructure is a significant escalation in the war.
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Iran responded by hitting energy targets in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
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As Summer Said, Rebecca Feng and Alexander Ward of the Wall Street Journal wrote, these
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strikes put oil and gas facilities at the center of the war, worsening the crisis over the
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supply of energy around the world.
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Trump's social media account blamed Israel for the strike and said the U.S. hadn't been
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informed about it ahead of time.
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But Barack Reved of Axios reported that both Israeli officials and an official from the
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U.S. Defense Department said the strike was coordinated with and approved by the Trump
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The Wall Street Journal reporters added that Trump approved the strike to put pressure
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on Iran to open the state of Hormuz.
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Today Iraq declared force measure on the country's oil fields developed by foreign oil companies.
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This is an acknowledgement that a catastrophic event, usually an earthquake or something similar,
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means they cannot meet their obligations to deliver their product.
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In this case, the catastrophe is the disruption to the state of Hormuz, through which 20% of
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the world's oil and natural gas flows.
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Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Bahrain state-owned BAPCO energies declared force measure
2:07
This morning, Trump's social media account once again blamed U.S. allies in the North
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Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, for not joining his war, although NATO is a defensive
2:19
alliance designed to respond to an attack.
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The account posted, without the U.S.A., NATO is a paper tiger.
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They didn't want to join the fight to stop a nuclear-powered Iran.
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Now that fight is militarily won, with very little danger for them, they complain about
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the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don't want to help open the state of
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Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices.
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So easy for them to do with so little risk, cowards, and we will remember President Donald
3:01
This afternoon, Trump told reporters, you know, we don't use the straight, we don't need
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Trump needs it, Korea, Japan, China, a lot of other people, so they'll have to get involved
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a little bit on that one.
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He also said, I think we've won, we've knocked out their navy, their air force, we've
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knocked out their anti-aircraft, we've knocked out everything, we're roaming free.
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From a military standpoint, all they're doing is clogging up the straight, but from a
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military standpoint, they're finished.
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The International Energy Agency is an intergovernmental organization that was created in 1974 to provide
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policy recommendations on the global energy sector, and whose members make up about 75%
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of the demand for global energy.
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Today, it said, the conflict in the Middle East has created the largest supply disruption
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in the history of the global oil market, due to the near halt in shipping traffic through
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the Strait of Hormuz.
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It added, the resumption of transit through the Strait of Hormuz is the single most important
4:12
action to return to stable oil and gas flows and reduce the strains on markets and prices.
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Until then, it urged people to work from home if possible, drive more slowly to conserve
4:25
energy, use public transport, avoid using airplanes, and use electricity for cooking where
4:35
Yesterday, Trump told reporters he was not sending troops to Iran, saying, no, I'm not putting
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If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you, but I'm not putting troops.
4:46
Today, Jennifer Jacobs, James Laporta, and Eleanor Watson of CBS News reported that the
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Pentagon has made detailed preparations for sending troops to Iran.
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The administration is currently moving thousands of Marines to the Middle East.
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They will not be in place for a few weeks, suggesting the administration is expecting
5:08
the engagement to continue.
5:11
Barakravid and Mark Caputo of Axios reported today that the administration is considering
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an assault on Iran's Carg Island, the center of Iran's oil processing facilities, to
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force Iran to allow free passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
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That operation would require the U.S. military to pound Iran's military capacity near the
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strait before sending in ground troops.
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A source told Ravid and Caputo, we need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with
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strikes, take the island, and then get them by the **** and use it for negotiations.
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Rises in the U.S. were already rising before Trump struck Iran, prompting the closure of
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the Strait and the choking off of global oil supplies.
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The Federal Reserve's tracking of key inflation measures released Wednesday showed higher prices
6:06
than expected, with the producer price index or PPI jumping 0.7% in February, the most
6:17
In the 12 months through February, Luchimudakani of Reuters reported, the PPI went up 3.4%,
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the fastest rate of growth in a year.
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Now, dramatically higher fuel costs threaten to drive those prices higher.
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The war itself is also costing Americans money and lots of it.
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Economist Justin Wolfer's notes that the estimated cost of a billion dollars a day does
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not include the larger cost of the economy.
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The Pentagon's number counts only bombs and planes and personnel Wolfer's points out.
6:54
It does not include higher oil prices, geopolitical strife, business uncertainty, and slower
7:02
Those costs will mount into the hundreds of billions.
7:06
Gaelian Morris of Strength and Numbers notes that 58% of Americans think the U.S. military
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operation in Iran is a bad use of taxpayer dollars, while only 32% approve.
7:20
Asked if they would support the war in Iran if it raised gas prices by a dollar a gallon
7:25
or more, 61% of Americans said they would not, while only 30% said they would.
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Aware that the war is historically unpopular, Republicans in Congress are refusing to exercise
7:40
any oversight of the Pentagon and the White House.
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Megan Menero of The New York Times reported today that Republicans don't want to expose
7:49
disapproval of the war, and so are simply cheering Trump on in public.
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Rather than holding public hearings that would allow the American people to hear the administration's
7:59
justification for the war and plans for its execution as Democrats demand, Republicans
8:06
are permitting the administration to inform Congress as it wishes, behind closed doors.
8:13
You don't want to show that kind of division to your enemy when you're in the midst of
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a war, Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican of Wisconsin, told Menero, I don't have a problem
8:23
with the administration avoiding showing our enemy that they don't have 100% support
8:30
They're holding news conferences, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican of South
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Dakota, told reporters last week, so there's no need for official hearings.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, said that operations were very
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sensitive and thus could not be discussed outside of classified settings because it would
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adversely affect our mission.
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This demand that Americans trust the government to go to war without public debate flies directly
9:01
in the face of the reasoning of the framers of the Constitution, who believed the American
9:06
people must have the right to decide whether to invest their lives and fortunes in a war.
9:14
Senate Democrats have tried twice to pass a measure that would require Trump to get congressional
9:19
authorization before continuing the war, but Republicans reject it.
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They want to circumvent the Constitution, Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat of New Jersey,
9:30
said, they want to go around public oversight.
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They want to avoid the glare, the questions of the American people.
9:39
The recognition that the war might drag on has driven the stock market down sharply.
9:45
All three of the main U.S. stock indexes, the S&P 500, the NASDAQ composite, and the Dow
9:51
Jones industrial average, have fallen since the war began.
9:56
Tonight, after markets had closed down again, Trump appeared to try to reassure investors
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over the weekend that the war will end soon, writing on social media that we are getting
10:09
very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great military
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efforts in the Middle East with respect to the terrorist regime of Iran.
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The administration continues to try to sell its war as a violent video game, and Trump
10:26
as a dignified leader.
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Eli Stochles, Ben Johansson, Jack Dech, and Paul McLeary of Politico reported on Wednesday
10:35
that the White House is thrilled with the engagement garnered by the war videos made
10:40
by White House communication staffers, in which footage of military strikes is intercut
10:46
with football hits, or bowling pins being blasted apart, or with clips from movies
10:51
like Top Gun and Gladiator.
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A White House official told the journalists,
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�We're over here just grinding away on banger memes, dude.�
11:01
�There's an entertainment factor to what we do.�
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But ultimately, it boils down to the fact that no one has ever attempted to communicate
11:09
with the American public this way before.
11:13
Progressive political strategist Max Burns notes that the White House messaging is appealing
11:19
directly to the base, especially to these young, very online, forechan, mega people who,
11:26
just like Trump, treat war like a video game.
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He added, �You don't see service members sharing this content.�
11:35
Since the Obama administration, the choice of whether to allow media at a dignified transfer
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ceremony when the remains of service members are brought home at Dover Air Force Base
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in Delaware, has been made by the families.
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After Trump's political action committee used images from a dignified transfer in a fundraising
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email, on Wednesday, the Fox News Channel announced that,
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�At the request of the families, the dignified transfer is going to remain private.
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There will not be any cameras.�
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On the last, the administration posted a number of photos from Wednesday's ceremony on social media,
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showing Trump in the background, saluting.
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Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson.
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It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dead and Massachusetts,
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recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.