Saturday's Final Word

Summary

One more tab oughta get it, one last click 'fore we quit it, one for the road ... This is so cheap. He actually said, “War is hell. War is chaos. And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American heroes, all of them.” Bertrand knows that, which is why she disabled replies. https://t.co/yAyPeOSIsq— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) March 14, 2026 Ed: You'd think that CNN would spend its remaining time under Warner Discovery management attempting to clean up its act, in anticipation of David Ellison's acquisition. Instead, the entire organization seems intent on burning what little remains of its credibility to the ground. Insane. === WSJ: At the start of the war on Iran, Israel and the U.S. said they were paving the way for Iranians to rise up and topple their government. Many Iranians cheered on the offensive as a last resort to overthrow rulers who killed thousands of protesters in January. Now, they are grappling with the possibility that the war will end with them living under the same authoritarian rule and crushing international sanctions, but in devastated cities with an aggrieved government that has vowed to take an even harder line against dissent. One Tehran-based civil-society activist and former political prisoner said Iranians were truly hopeful two weeks ago as the war began. Now, the person said, they feel betrayed. Ed: It's. Been. Two. Weeks. Can we stop with the bedwetting until we get to the end of kinetic operations? The point of the war has been to destroy the regime's threats to the region and the demolition of its military-security infrastructure. The people will have to find a way to free themselves; that has always been the reality. No one ever seriously thought that Trump would send in an occupying force as in Afghanistan or Iraq. === Mark Thompson and his producers/anchors at @CNN swore to you Joe Biden had no mental acuity deficiencies for 4 years. pic.twitter.com/8VAJOWLefJ— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) March 14, 2026 Ed: And then had one of its top anchors co-author a book claiming to have only discovered it after Biden's disastrous debate against Trump ... on CNN. === Donald Trump on Truth Social: Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe. We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are. Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated. In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE! President DONALD J. TRUMP Ed: I don't think we want China's warships involved in this effort, but the French and British governments should support escorts through the Strait. Japan has a solid navy and may want to flex it as a demonstration to Beijing. Anyway, the sooner the better. === Hey, big flexes for everyone. https://t.co/5vtU85VKBw— J.E. Dyer ☘️ (@OptimisticCon) March 14, 2026 Ed: The Saudis and the UAE have prepared for this moment with the East-West Pipelines. It will take longer to ship than through the Strait of Hormuz ports, as the capacity of the pipeline is lower, but it's still a critical relief valve. === Mike Watson at the Free Beacon: As the Iranian regime bottles up the Strait of Hormuz and President Trump pulls out all the stops to protect energy shipments and mitigate the damage to the global economy, doubts and fears about the latest stage of the war with Iran are growing. One increasingly common argument is that further operations against Iran weaken the effort to deter China from military aggression, so Trump should declare victory pronto and go home. Since China is America's strongest adversary, deterring Xi Jinping is vital yet fiendishly difficult. Ending this stage of the Middle East war without sharply reducing Iran's ability to threaten U.S. interests would be a strategic defeat, and Xi would notice. Defeating Iran is not sufficient to deter China, but it is necessary. Deterring China from attacking its neighbors, particularly Taiwan, is equally vital to our interests. Ed: These aren't competing interests; they are correlated interests. Ending the regime's ability to threaten the region will allow us to shift resources to the western Pacific, as well as ending China's access to cheap oil. That's why we ended the Maduro regime's involvement with both countries and the black market for oil. It takes a lot of effort to ignore a strategy this obvious, but the bedwetters seem to have a lot of stamina. === Tehran’s strategy backfired spectacularly. Kharg is the regime’s oil artery. Dubai is its financial artery. One moves the oil, the other moves the money. By threatening Gulf stability, Iran has turned both choke points against itself. Maximum pressure is now being maximized. https://t.co/8IdLLOLkPR— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) March 14, 2026 Ed: If we seize Kharg Island, the Iranian regime runs out of money. If the UAE seizes Iran's money-laundered assets, it loses any other backup income. That will be lights-out for the regime eventually, but as Duane warned earlier, not immediately. === Jerusalem Post: Two senior officials in the intelligence branch of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya emergency command were killed in a targeted Israeli Air Force strike in Tehran, the IDF confirmed on Saturday. The military identified the officials as Abdallah Jalali-Nasab and Amir Shariat, and said the operation was carried out with precise guidance from Israeli Military Intelligence. According to the IDF, the two men had recently been appointed as acting replacements in the intelligence division after their predecessor, Saleh Asadi, was killed in the opening phase of Operation Roaring Lion. Both were viewed as senior intelligence commanders and key figures within Iran’s intelligence community, with close ties to the upper ranks of the regime. Ed: If this checks out, and the IDF is usually pretty careful with these claims, it's a testament to Israeli intelligence. They're still tracking leadership in Iran even after two weeks of all-out war. === Iran warns Ukraine it could become a “legitimate target,” accusing Kyiv of aiding Israel with drone support, lawmaker Ibrahim Azizi says. pic.twitter.com/psejpItw9M— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 14, 2026 Ed: Must be nice playing Fantasy Superpower. That game is coming to a screeching halt soon. Besides, Ukraine has held off a massive Russian invasion force for four years and withstood Iran's drone warfare through most of it. Azizi's unhappy to see what happens when actions meet consequences. === Iran International: Israel said on Saturday it had killed Hisham Abd al-Karim Yassin, a commander in the Palestine Corps of Iran’s Quds Force and in Hezbollah’s communications unit. The Israeli military said Yassin was killed in an airstrike earlier this week. According to the IDF, he played a key role in maintaining Hezbollah’s communications systems. Ed: Israel's intel in Lebanon is just as good, apparently. === You doxxed me. You did not and do not have my permission to reveal the details your "publication" revealed. Plain and simple.— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) March 14, 2026 Doxxing is, in some states, criminally illegal. Doxxing government employees is illegal under federal law. Please undo the doxxing at your earliest… https://t.co/cXTWJbhSdU Please undo the doxxing at your earliest convenience so no further action needs to be taken. https://x.com/EvansRyan202/status/2032809313756930085 Ed: Looks like someone lost an argument and decided to silence the person who won it. There is no excuse for doxxing people in the absence of an obvious threat or fraud. This, to put it simply, was just a chickens*** silencing attempt. === Data Republican on X/Twitter: In addition to being a doxxer, you look a lot less like someone who's defending institutions, and a lot more like someone who exemplifies institutional capture in the name of self-preservation. And you disclosed none of it. Let me reiterate. @CynicalPublius wrote under a pseudonym and identified himself as a retired Army colonel with Afghanistan and Iraq experience. He argued about curriculum policy. You responded by putting his name on the internet. Your career depends on the institutions you are defending. Your article defending those institutions is the same article that ended his anonymity. You taught your students about the instruments of national power, Professor Duplessis. You are now a living, breathing demonstration one of them. And why reform must happen. Ed: Be sure to read it all, and then set your credibility for War On the Rocks accordingly. === NY Post: The Trump administration has signed an executive order to resume oil drilling operations off the Southern California coast, citing national energy security concerns. The order, which invokes a Cold War-era Defense Production Act, will prove controversial despite the potential to bring down gas prices, which are now the highest in America. Gov. Gavin Newsom also flagged the state would challenge the order in the courts. Ed: Newsom could probably throw some sand in the gears of this effort for a while, but the DPA and federal jurisdiction over waters off the coast suggest he'll lose in the end. It'll be a fun fight to watch, of course. Notably, Trump isn't ordering this drilling off the Florida coast, where it would be just as unpopular. One other point: where would the oil from the California coast be refined? === They want “reparations.”— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) March 14, 2026 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Wait…. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/jnxVI6yHhI Ed: I always like to go out with a laugh! Editor's note: If we thought our job in pushing back against the Academia/media/Democrat censorship complex was over with the election, think again. This is going to be a long fight. If you're digging these Final Word posts and want to join the conversation in the comments -- and support independent platforms -- why not join our VIP Membership program? Choose VIP to support Hot Air and access our premium content, VIP Gold to extend your access to all Townhall Media platforms and participate in this show, or VIP Platinum to get access to even more content and discounts on merchandise. Use the promo code FIGHT to join or to upgrade your existing membership level today, and get 60% off!