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Rubio: Israel was going to attack Iran, so we attacked Iran first in self-defense

(The Guardian) “It was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone – the United States or Israel or anyone – they were going to respond, and respond against the United States,” Rubio told reporters at the Capitol. “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”

Zorro

Trump Goes on Wild Posting Spree to Try to Shift War Blame

(Daily Beast) Donald Trump played a game of hypotheticals and then thanked himself in the third person as part of an attempt to deflect blame for his strikes on Iran. During a Truth Social posting spree, Trump, 79, first made a dubious claim about the nuclear deal agreed to under the Obama administration. “If I didn’t terminate Obama’s horrendous Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), Iran would have had a Nuclear Weapon three years ago,” he argued.

groundloop

Trump rebukes Starmer over UK refusal to back strikes on Iran

(The Guardian) Donald Trump has criticised Keir Starmer again over the UK’s refusal to aid the offensive strikes on Iran, saying the “relationship is obviously not what it was”. Starmer had issued his strongest rebuke yet of Trump’s action in Iran, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies” and defended his decision not to allow the use of British bases to conduct the strikes. Speaking to the Sun, Trump compared Starmer’s actions unfavourably with France’s support for the strikes and with the backing of the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte. “He has not been helpful. I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK,” he said.

BumRushDaShow

Military officials question fortifications at site where U.S. troops were killed in Iranian strike

(CBS News) The first American service members to die in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran were killed in an apparent Iranian drone attack on a makeshift office space in Kuwait, three U.S. military officials with direct knowledge of Iran's attack told CBS News. At least six Americans were killed in a strike on a tactical operations center at the Shuaiba port in Kuwait. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the deadly strike was caused by a powerful Iranian weapon that made it through both air defenses and the operations center's fortifications. But the three U.S. military officials questioned the assertion that the building was adequately fortified. They told CBS News the operations center was a triple-wide trailer made into an office space — a common setup at U.S. bases abroad.

BumRushDaShow

FBI Staffers Ousted by Kash Patel Had Iran Expertise

(Mediaite) FBI Director Kash Patel fired at least a dozen counterintelligence staffers at the FBI mere days before the U.S. strikes on Iran, despite their relevant expertise, because they had also previously worked on the investigation into the classified documents at President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago, according to a report by the New York Sun. The ousted staffers included agents and personnel from a counterintelligence unit called CI-12 in the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the firings were ordered directly by Patel, reported the Sun’s Daniel Edward Rosen.

KS Toronado

Tuesday's Condensed News Cartoons

BumRushDaShow

Leaked Interior Department database reveals US plans to revise historical information

(Reuters) The U.S. Interior Department said a database revealing how President Donald Trump's administration planned to revise information on key phases of American history at national park sites was deliberative and the employees ‌who released it "will be held accountable." An internal government database first reported, opens new tab by the Washington Post and posted on two public websites, on Monday revealed the scope of the Trump administration's effort to revise or remove information on African-American history, LGBT rights, climate change and other topics at hundreds of national park ⁠sites.

BumRushDaShow

Mysterious Jeffrey Epstein 'Walk of Shame' appears on path close to White House

(Irish Independent) A “Jeffrey Epstein Walk of Shame” has been set up in Washington DC, not far from the White House, naming and shaming prominent public figures associated with the late paedophile and sex trafficker. The display consists of stickers – mocked up in the style of the celebrated Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles – which name powerful friends of Epstein and carry QR codes linking to specific entries about them in the files recently released by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Rhiannon12866

Full Deposition: Hillary Clinton testifies in Jeffrey Epstein probe

Rhiannon12866

Full Deposition: Bill Clinton testifies in Jeffrey Epstein probe

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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify in the House Oversight Committee's Jeffrey Epstein probe, chairman says

8 min ago - March 3, 2026, 3:29 PM EST / Updated March 3, 2026, 4:06 PM EST Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to testify as part of the House Oversight Committee's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the committee's chair said Tuesday on X. The secretary ... (NBC News)

Military Commander Tells Troops Bombing Iran Is 'Part Of God's Divine Plan'

21 min ago - Mar 3, 2026, 11:42 AM EST | Updated 26 minutes ago For some U.S. military commanders, the emerging war in Iran is part of a biblical plan to bring about the end of the world as we know it, according to complaints filed by over 100 service members. T ... (Huff Post)

Noem defends her portrayal of killed Minneapolis protesters as agitators, in her Senate hearing

25 min ago - WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended her department's immigration enforcement tactics in front of a Senate committee on Tuesday and pushed back against criticism from Democrats who say she wrongly disparaged two pro ... (AP)

X Will Stop Paying People for Sharing Unlabeled AI-Generated War Footage

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Trump admin drops, then renews, appeal over orders targeting law firms

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Ted Cruz leads bipartisan bill that would void and prohibit confidentiality clauses in child sex abuse cases

41 min ago - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced on Tuesday a new bill that he says will address the misuse of non-disclosure agreements in civil cases that cover up child sexual abuse and trafficking. The legislation introduced as the Terminating Restrictive ... (Texas Tribune)

White House Submits Iran War Powers Report to Congress

42 min ago - Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 12:02 PM On March 2, President Trump submitted his war powers report notifying Congress of the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli joint strikes he authorized against Iran. The report comes a few days after the military action that killed I ... (Lawfare)

US State Department 'actively securing' evacuation flights

1 hr ago - (snip) 15:20 The US State Department says it is "facilitating charter flights from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan" for American citizens. In a statement, it says that "in the past several days, over 9,000 American citizens have sa ... (BBC)

Syria Sends Thousands of Troops to Lebanon Border, Sources Say

1 hr ago - DAMASCUS/BEIRUT, March 3 (Reuters) - Syria has reinforced its border with Lebanon with rocket units and thousands ‌of troops, eight Syrian and Lebanese sources said on Tuesday, as conflict spread in the region including between Israel and Hezbol ... (Reuters)

Trump tells Congress it is 'not possible at this time to know' how long Iran attacks might last

1 hr ago - Tuesday 03 March 2026 09:33 EST President Donald Trump admitted in a letter to Congress that it is “not possible at this time to know” how long the U.S. attacks on Iran would last. In an official notification to Congress about Trump’s ... (The Guardian)

US Consulate in Dubai Struck by a Suspected Iranian Drone

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'Greg Bovino Under Criminal Investigation in Minneapolis'

1 hr ago - "CBP commander Gregory Bovino is under criminal investigation in Minneapolis for his conduct during Operation Metro Surge, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced in a Monday press conference." "Specifically, Moriarty is looking into Bovino& ... (TPM)

Police investigate alleged threat against Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor over police scanner

1 hr ago - Law enforcement in Pittsburgh is investigating a threat against Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor that was broadcast over police communication channels. On Monday afternoon, KDKA began hearing what appeared to be Nazi songs over the police scanner, a ... (CBS)

US considering military support for Middle East oil and gas supplies

1 hr ago - 03/03/2026 01:32 PM EST The Trump administration is considering providing military protection to oil and gas tankers traversing the Strait of Hormuz in a bid to cool energy prices that have surged since Iran warned it would attack ships at the choke ... (Politico)

US lawmakers slam State Department over lack of help for Americans stuck in Mideast

1 hr ago - March 3, 2026 9:51 AM EST Updated 24 mins ago WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday criticized the State Department for urging Americans in the Middle East to evacuate three days after the U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran began, ... (Reuters)

State Department coordinating military flights to evacuate Americans from Middle East

2 hrs ago - March 3, 2026 A State Department official on Tuesday confirmed in a post on X that the agency was "actively securing military aircraft and charter flights" for U.S. citizens wishing to leave the Middle East as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran expands ... (Stars and Stripes)

Apple raises MacBook prices across the board as M5 chips, new displays signal AI-first strategy

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Small plane makes emergency landing in frigid Hudson River and the 2 people aboard swim to safety

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Trump Threatens to Take Over Spain's Air Bases Without Permission

2 hrs ago - Donald Trump is attacking Spain over the country’s refusal to let the U.S. use its air bases to bomb Iran. “Spain has been terrible. In fact, I told [Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent] to cut off all dealings with Spain,” Trump said Tue ... (The New Republic)

Federal judge says Trump administration can't kill NYC's congestion pricing tolls

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