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Drone Impacts US Embassy In Riyadh After Rubio Warns Iran ‘Hardest Hits Yet To Come’

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Drone Impacts US Embassy In Riyadh After Rubio Warns Iran ‘Hardest Hits Yet To Come’

Summary: President Trump opened Monday’s Medal of Honor ceremony in the White House East Wing with a carefully prepared, somewhat brief statement on Operation Epic Fury. Speaking deliberatively – but not quite with the level of his typically confident and energetic tone and demeanor – he spoke initially and broadly on the rationale for ordering the attack on Iran, which is now in day three and has taken at least four American troop lives at this point. Trump vowed to “crush” the “Iranian threat posed to the US,” claiming that “we will easily prevail”. He declared that already US forces have knocked out ten ships, and that the plan is to also ensure the Iranians “can’t fund armies beyond borders”. But high on the minds of Congressional leaders and the American public is: what’s next? Trump gave a timeline of a “projected four to five weeks” for war with Iran, “but we can go longer” and this will involve “whatever it takes.” He vowed to continue the mission with “unyielding resolve” – even amid reports that US Gulf allies UAE and Qatar are now lobbying allies to persuade Trump to end the Iran war soon (as the Gulf continues to feel the impact of Iran’s retaliatory strikes). The President just committed the nation to another potentially open-ended war in the Middle East.

Late U.S. cash session, UBS analyst Jonathan Garber told clients that “Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander said the Strait of Hormuz is closed and they will set any ship on fire that tries to pass through, Reuters reports, citing Iranian media. WTI crude oil is now up more than 7% following the headlines.” This soon on the heels of CENTCOM having announced that Iran’s Navy now has zero ships in the Gulf of Oman. Whether all of this is fully accurate or not amid the natural competing infowar that accompanies any major conflict, it remains: How many ships will be willing to go through with Iranian kamikaze drones taking pot shots? 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on the defensive Monday afternoon while fielding questions on the Iran war. When asked about boots on ground, the prospect wasn’t discounted, alarmingly. But he said the “president always has all options” and yet he believes the objectives “can be achieved without ground forces.” He also confirmed that at this moment there is no diplomacy happening with Iran and that the “next hits are the hardest to come”. The administration is also very heavy on repeating the mantra – “this is not Iraq… it’s not endless” – as if fully aware that the prospect most definitely hangs over this whole operation.

Rubio, perhaps anticipating growing public anger especially if things go off the rails, says Treasury Secretary Bessent and Energy Secretary Wright will announce steps to mitigate oil costs; measures will be announced Tuesday. Rapidan Energy Group analyst Fernando Ferreira has noted: “The US-Israeli offensive has shifted Tehran’s calculus from deterrence to regime survival. Iran cannot contest US control of the Gulf in a conventional fight, but it does not need to. Its strategy has always centered on denial, using drones, missiles, and mines to raise the cost of commercial transit through Hormuz. Even if the IRGC Navy takes heavy losses, the core threat remains. Drone and missile attacks can still disrupt shipping and rattle energy markets.” CENTCOM clarifies: the vital oil transit strait “not closed despite IRGC claims”.

Meanwhile, the surreal implications underlying this… Rubio: “I’ve been asked: why now? One reason why is 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. If we stood and waited for that attack to come first, before we hit them, we would suffer much higher casualties. We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action, we knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces.” Currently the US State Dept is urging Americans across 14 countries to depart now.

  • Axios reports, citing a US official, that a drone impacted the US embassy in Riyadh. Reuters, citing two sources: Fire at the US Embassy in Riyadh following an explosion
  • Attacks reported on US bases and locations in Kuwait and Jordan.
  • Qatar downs Iranian jets as Tehran targets oil and gas
  • Attacks reported on US bases and locations in Kuwait and Jordan.
  • CENTCOM: Six US service members have been killed in action, 18 “seriously wounded”.
  • Attacks reported on US bases and locations in Kuwait and Jordan.
  • Trump claims ‘big wave’ coming against Iran as Pentagon says more troops deployed to region
  • UAE Defense Ministry says air defenses intercepted 9 ballistic missiles and 148 drones
  • IDF says it struck over 70 Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Lebanon
  • In the middle of remarks on Iran, Trump touts White House ballroom construction
  • US military says it has struck over 1,250 targets in Iran since start of ops. Over 600 Iranians killed and climbing.
  • CENTCOM: Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO.
  • IDF Intelligence Chief: “We eliminated in 40 seconds more than 40 of the most important people in Iran, but we haven’t finished. There is no place where we won’t find our enemies.”
  • The IDF struck numerous assets belonging to the financial institution that helps Hezbollah sustain itself.
  • NATO leadership says alliance won’t join US-Israeli Iran ops
  • Trump says he does not rule out sending ground troops to Iran: “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” Trump said after launching strikes Saturday to decapitate Iran’s military and political leadership. “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.’”
  • QatarEnergy’s LNG production halt could shake up global gas markets.
  • Iran FM: Regional countries should pressure US to halt Iran strikes, says not at war with Gulf/regional countries
  • Advisor to IRGC says Strait of Hormuz has been closed and they will target any ship. Whether true or not: How many ships will be willing to go through with Iranian kamikaze drones taking pot shots?

Congress might have questions about this stunning admission by Rubio here? Or perhaps they won’t…

Will there be an offramp or has Iran’s significant retaliation in the region set up a point of no return?

* * *

Update(1015ET): The Pentagon has announced it has gained complete ‘local air superiority’ over Iran, and also that Israel continues working with the US to eliminate ‘common threats’. This came soon on the heels of the shocking news of three US F-15s downed over Kuwait. Iran is claiming to have shot down at least one US jet, while the US and Kuwait counter-claim that it was actually Kuwaiti ‘friendly fire’. Some six total US airmen parachuted down safely into Kuwaiti territory.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has meanwhile stated that at this point approximately 600 Iranian infrastructure sites have been dismantled in Iran using 2,500 munitions. These sites included “over 20 targets belonging to Iranian military leaders,” the IDF said. But as the conflict expands into Lebanon, and as many Gulf countries continue witnessing inbound Iranian missiles and drones, NATO command has distanced itself from the conflict, with Secretary General Mark Rutte stating Monday that the alliance “will not participate” in the joint US-Israeli mission. The Joint Chiefs say that more American service members are being added to the operation.

THE BIG WAR GAMBLE… or, Rabobank’s take paraphrased down to a single key sentence:

The US strike on Iran is Trump’s high-risk gamble to choke China’s energy lifeline, flip Tehran to allied control, open the India-Middle East-Europe corridor, weaken Russia, and lock in 21st-century US hegemony—delivering quick regime change and falling oil prices that cement Trumpism as a historic win, OR sparking Middle East chaos and global blowback that hands Beijing the advantage in a new age of empires.

In the meantime, War Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared on the defensive in a Pentagon briefing early Monday. He confirmed there are as yet no US boots on the ground, while also seeking to assure the American public this is not an “endless war”. And yet, reporters were still left frustrated by lack of a clear timeline, or laying out of specific objectives which must be accomplished before Operation Epic Fury is declared over. There was a moment where Hegseth erupted at a reporter’s question, revealing that tensions are high at the Pentagon:

But worrisomely for the prospect of escalation, NBC observes that Hegseth did not rule out boots on the ground:

Asked whether U.S. boots are on the ground, Hegseth said no, but said he would not lay out what the U.S. could do as the operation continues.

Hegseth said that Trump ensures that the country’s enemies know that the U.S. will go as far as it needs to in order to advance the U.S.’ interests.

Time will tell if this firm pledge becomes a reality or not:

 U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that military operations against Iran would not lead to an “endless war” and that the aim was to destroy Tehran’s missiles, Navy and other security infrastructure.

“We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically,” Hegseth said during a press conference at the Pentagon.

Screenshot: Massive bombing of Tehran on Day 3 continues.

Trump previously told The Daily Mail he expects the operation could take up to four weeks. One month of intense war will seem like a lifetime, given how fast events at the ‘blowback’ have been coming over the last some 48 to 72 hours. And he’s just told CNN: “We are about to hit them hard, the operation is progressing very well, the big wave hasn’t happened yet and it will come soon.”

Hegseth and Gen. Caine offered condolences to families of the fallen: “I want to express my deep condolences and the condolences of the joint force to the Department of War personnel killed and wounded in action,” Caine said, calling the fallen soldiers heroes who “represent the best of our nation has to offer. They’re true examples of what selfless service means.”.

* * *

It is only day three of ‘Operation Epic Fury’ and Americans are waking up to shocking images of US fighter jets going down over Kuwait, and the incredibly rare scene of pilots parachuting down with a look of disbelief and confusion…

US CENTCOM has confirmed, following a Kuwaiti government statement, “At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident.”

That’s three US warplanes in apparently one incident. How does that happen? Of course, given the already thick fog of war and propaganda narratives fast going back and forth, it’s entirely possible they could have been shot down by Iranian defenses or jets from just across the border. Iran is saying it has shot down at least one US F-15 fighter jet:

IRAN SAYS IT SHOT DOWN US F-15 FIGHTER JET: TASNIM

Here’s the fuller CENTCOM narrative:

CENTCOM: “During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses. All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation.”

American pilot found by Kuwait police and locals, via X.

Given there’s now an official Pentagon casualty/death count, and given the fact that the Gulf allies and especially Israel are getting hit hard by Iran’s significant ballistic missile arsenal, President Trump himself may now be (only too late) realize he just bit off more than he can chew in ordering this ultra-risky regime change operation.

There’s as yet no clear endgame. Trump has talked about reaching objectives – without defining them, in something eerily (and predictably!) familiar with the 2003 Iraq war under Bush and the Neocons. Recall too that Trump just told The Atlantic magazine on Sunday morning that Tehran wanted to speak to him while feeling the pressure of the bombs falling, and that he was willing to do so. “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” he said from his residence in Florida.

But soon after it became clear that’s not happening – the Iranian genie is out of the bottle …or we could say Pandora’s Box Persian-style, which could make even Iraq look like a cakewalk. Adding insult to injury is that this is everything Trump and his team campaigned against.

Trump has already pivoted to saying the conflict looks to take up to four weeks (will it take years as Iraq did? nobody knows). Below is the man that was tapped by the slain Ayatollah Khamenei to run the day to day in his stead:

And to that, the Pentagon responds… also with Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on Monday morning declaring that the US has local air superiority in Iran.

Israel is taking significant casualties, especially after Sunday’s direct large Iranian warhead impact on a town near Jerusalem which left at least 9 dead and dozens wounded. Hezbollah has entered the war and in response Israel is once again pounding southern Lebanon and Beirut. Major international airports in the Gulf, particularly in the UAE, have bit hit by missiles and drones – also as US bases across the Gulf continue to be targeted. Even British-US bases on Cyprus have come under drone attack.

Gulf nations are seeing casualties, and even other European bases in the region have come under fire. American bases in northern Iraq have also been heavily targeted in Iran’s retaliation waves. These have been sustained, particularly on Israel. One question which we’ve been covering remains: which side will have the missile and firepower arsenal to outlast the other? …as the costs will soon enter the billions. Most importantly, as of Monday morning CENTCOM has newly confirmed four American troops killed in the operation.

Needless to say, if Trump’s thinking really approached this as if it was ‘one and done’ Venezuela, and that after some quick salvo a country of 90 million with a well-armed and experienced military would immediately shout ‘uncle!’ – he’s probably already realizing the situation is spiraling out of control far beyond his expectation. But he was clearly and loudly warned. Yet, it’s also true that Iranian top leadership is fast being decimated – with over 40 top officers reportedly killed. But Iran is able to fill these ranks fast, most likely.

Shock & Awe on Tehran

In Washington right now, the biggest story centers on headlines of “paranoia” and deep “anxiety” at the Pentagon in in national security council ranks:

Pentagon officials are worried about Donald Trump’s Iran strikes spiraling out of control if they stick to his timeline.

While the president boasts that the strikes could continue for several more weeks, military leaders are sounding the alarm behind the scenes about U.S. air defense stockpiles running out if the fighting goes on that long. “The mood here is intense and paranoid,” one insider told The Washington Post.

It seems the Pentagon is already throwing the White House and Trump under the bus, or is at least doing so through ‘anonymous’ quotes given to WaPo, NYT, CNN and others:

Pentagon briefers acknowledged to congressional staff in a briefing Sunday that Iran was not planning to strike US forces or bases in the Middle East unless Israel attacked Iran first, undercutting the administration’s argument Saturday that Tehran was planning to potentially strike the US preemptively and posed an imminent threat, according to multiple people who attended the briefing.

Senior administration officials told reporters Saturday that the US chose to attack Iran because it had received indications the regime was planning to launch missile attacks against US bases in the region preemptively and create a mass casualty situation. CNN reported Saturday that sources said there was no intelligence to support the administration’s claim.

And after all, Iran’s economy was already brought to its knees through years of crippling sanctions, and the Iranians appeared to come hat in hand to the negotiating table in Geneva.

To recount the warning late last month issued by no less than the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine – the issues already facing American forces were clearly outlined and predicted. According to out prior paraphrase and outline of what’s being freshly reported by WSJ:

1) Caine warned that the war plans under consideration carry a high risk of significant American and allied casualties.

2) He cautioned that a multi-day campaign would exhaust air-defense munitions and other limited-supply items, which are critical for protecting regional partners like Israel if Iran retaliates.

3) An intensive operation against Iran could deplete stockpiles to a level that would complicate U.S. readiness for a potential future conflict with China.

4) He described the potential campaign as one that could “stretch the military thin” and leave forces “overtaxed”.

5) Caine’s gave “high likelihood of success” reassurances before the January 2026 mission to apprehend Nicolas Maduro, he has been unable to provide similar guarantees regarding a large-scale strike on Iran.

Below is a review of the mounting casualties across the region from Operation Epic Fury. The US has so far issued an official count of four US troops killed and five others seriously wounded. That could already be significantly higher, unfortunately – along with the below numbers which are expected to climb:

  • Iran: At least 555 people have died since joint US-Israeli strikes began, according to the Red Crescent Society. Iranian state media reported that 168 students were killed in an airstrike on a girls’ elementary school, with three more students killed in separate attacks in Tehran and northern Iran. China’s foreign ministry confirmed that one Chinese national was also killed.

  • Lebanon: Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon and Beirut have killed at least 31 people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

  • Israel: At least 10 people have been killed and more than 200 wounded since Israel launched operations against Iran, according to Magen David Adom. Nine of the dead were in Beit Shemesh, where a missile struck a bomb shelter.

  • Iraq: A US-Israeli strike hit a headquarters of Iraq’s Iran-aligned Popular Mobilization Forces, killing four members, the group’s Media Directorate said.

  • United Arab Emirates: Iran’s retaliatory strikes killed three people in the UAE, the defense ministry said. The victims—nationals of Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh—were killed after Iranian drones penetrated the country’s air defenses.

  • Kuwait: Three US service members were killed in a suspected drone attack early Sunday, according to sources familiar with the incident. Separately, Kuwait’s health ministry reported one fatality from Iranian strikes.

  • Bahrain: One person died after debris from an intercepted missile ignited a fire aboard a “foreign vessel” in Salman Industrial City, according to Bahraini state media.

War spreads to Israel-Hezbollah theatre in Lebanon:

To again cite, Glenn Greenwald, who summarized best how we got where we are: “For decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American neoconservatives have dreamed of only one foreign policy goal: having the United States fight a regime-change war against Iran. With the Oval Office occupied by Donald Trump — who campaigned for a full decade on a vow to end regime-change wars and vanquish neoconservatism — their goal has finally been realized.”

On the question of grand strategy and the White House’s likely long term global geopolitical chessboard vision, we have also featured that The Iran Question Is All About China.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 19:20

We Want One Solution, But One Solution Can’t Solve Our Polycrisis

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We Want One Solution, But One Solution Can’t Solve Our Polycrisis

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via Substack,

Whatever the problem, our minds seek one solution–preferably a simple one–to escape the trackless wilderness of complex, inter-connected problems. Problem-solving boils down to identifying the key problem and finding a fix that’s easy to understand and straightforward to apply.

Our minds rebel when confronted with polycrisis, a knotted mess of inter-connected problems, and so we apply solutions we already have in hand. As I explained in previous Musings, this leads us to modify our description of the problem so it aligns with the solution we already know.

This approach cannot actually solve the problem, but claiming we have a solution in hand is a highly attractive expediency for those tasked with solving problems, i.e. the leadership elites. It’s equally attractive to the rest of us, as we all want to banish uncertainty and anxiety with a quick painless fix.

Let’s start with the one solution many favor: fix the money, fix the world: if we reinstate sound money, that will fix the world. The proposed solution is easy to understand and straightforward to apply: gold (or bitcoin) is the only legal tender, so paper and digital money will be replaced by gold coins (or bitcoin equivalents).

The impetus for proposing this solution is self-evident: creating money out of thin air or by issuing credit-money that accrues interest is intrinsically self-liquidating, and so the status quo monetary system will run to failure (fiscal-financial-economic crisis) unless we change course.

I have often written that “if we don’t change the way money is created and distributed, we’ve changed nothing,“ because the current monetary system creates money at the top of the wealth-power pyramid and distributes it to the top.

The sum “trickling down” to the bottom 90% is losing purchasing power as prices rise, and so we’re seeking a monetary system that 1) reverses the “trickling” from “down” to “up” and 2) preserves the purchasing power of the bottom 90%’s labor, which is the “capital” they “own.”

The problem with the “gold is the only money” solution is it only fixes one problem: governments inflating away the value of their currency. In a corrupt society, it doesn’t eliminate corruption; it just means corruption will be transacted in gold or bitcoin.

It doesn’t reverse the “trickle” of money from its source from capital to labor/work, it favors capital enriching itself just as much as the current fiat system.

Like all such one-size-fits-all solutions, it also creates problems that are glossed over by its promoters, as everything is connected in ways that are not always visible at first blush.

Let’s break it down to its most basic dynamics.

In a “gold is the only money” economy, ten people each deposit one gold coin in a bank to earn interest on their money. The bank holds two coins in reserve to redeem depositors’ withdrawals, and loans the other eight coins to a new business seeking to expand.

Without the loan, the bank has no income to pay interest on the cash deposits. Without the loan, the enterprise doesn’t have the capital to expand. It’s win-win-win: depositors earn interest, the bank skims a profit for its owners and the enterprise now has the capital needed to expand.

So far so good, but…

Since economies expand and contract cyclically, a downturn occurs, and people spend less as a response to rising risk: revenues drop, workers are laid off and defaults / bankruptcies start rising.

Reducing-risk prudence leads four depositors to demand their coin back, and since the bank only has two coins in reserve, it calls the loan it made to the enterprise. The business has suffered in the downturn and can’t pay back the loan. The bank seizes the business and auctions its assets. Since valuations have fallen in the downturn, the assets only fetch two coins.

The bank now has four coins but the number of depositors demanding their coin back has risen to six. The bank fails, six depositors lose their money, and the enterprise is bankrupt.

This is precisely what happened in “sound money” 19th century America: hundreds of banks failed, depositors and borrowers were wiped out. The risk of panics triggering loans being called, assets being sold off at fire-sale prices, banks failing and depositors being wiped out are all intrinsic risks in this arrangement.

OK, so here’s the fix to panics: the government guarantees all depositors will get their gold coin back should a private bank fail. But the government doesn’t have enough gold to back up every deposit nationally; it too only has a reserve. Once the panic spreads nationally, the government’s reserves of gold coins are soon depleted.

This is the problem with “gold is the only money:” enterprises need capital to expand / launch, depositors seek a return on their capital, banks provide an institutional layer to manage these credit contracts.

After seeing other depositors lose their money, people no longer trust either banks or the government, and gold coins are withdrawn from circulation (stored at home) as a prudent measure. Credit–always limited to what banks had on deposit–becomes ever scarcer, crippling the real-world economy, as enterprises starved of capital have no way to expand.

OK, so here’s the fix: let’s let the government issue paper money “backed by gold.” So the Treasury issues $5,000 (the current global price of an ounce of gold) of currency for every ounce of gold it holds. But without a mechanism to keep currency and the market value of the gold aligned, then the Treasury can over time issue $50,000 of currency for each ounce held in the vault. The “backed by gold” claim is an artifice.

There’s another problem: gold, silver, oil, etc. are all commodities whose priced is “discovered” in global markets, so their value as measured in goods and services fluctuates beyond the control of any government.

As the global economy enters a boom cycle, gold rises to $10,000 an ounce, and the Treasury issues an additional $5,000 per ounce in currency. But when the boom turns to bust and the market value of gold returns to $5,000 per ounce, does the Treasury withdraw half the currency from circulation? No. The “backed by gold” currency has depreciated by half.

As I have often pointed out, “backed by gold” is illusory unless each unit of currency can be converted to gold coins on demand. Anything short of this is a duplicitous artifice.

Here’s another problem: the economy is expanding smartly, but the Treasury’s stash of gold isn’t expanding to match the increase of demand, as the government’s gold mines aren’t yielding much new gold. And since it’s costly to extract and refine the gold, the government spends most of the new gold paying to operate the mine.

The supply of gold coins is limited, and so money is scarce. People revert to barter or start using scrip or credit paper to transact business.

This is precisely what happened in the Medieval trade fairs: gold and silver were scarce, and as economic activity expanded, there weren’t enough coins to grease the expanding universe of transactions and productive enterprises.

The point here is using only precious metals as money comes with its own restrictions and risks. This is why economies augmented “sound money” in the first place. Using a commodity–which is subject to the same price discovery of supply and demand as any other commodity–is intrinsically problematic.

Basing a currency on a basket of commodities ends up facing the same problem: as the global price of the commodities fluctuates, so does the value of the currency, opening the door to distorting arbitrage and financial panics.

You see the other problem: the wealthy who have accumulated gold and silver are the lenders, and the commoners who only have their labor to sell / invest are the borrowers. There is risk on both sides of this equation, but over time those collecting interest will get richer and borrowers will be wiped out by a panic or downturn.

The wealth “trickles up,” and if the wealthy don’t lend their wealth to new enterprises, the economy stagnates. If banks don’t exist due to social trust being limited, then lending is restricted and the economy stagnates.

As a general rule, labor needs some working capital to turn work into a productive enterprise or other assets. So when entrepreneurial commoners sought to expand production in the “sound money” 1200s to 1400s, since they had little gold/silver or access to credit, they reverted to letters of credit and bills of exchange–forms of “paper money” that enabled transactions that would have otherwise never occurred.

As always, I recommend Braudel’s trilogy for those interested in gaining a more comprehensive understanding of money and the development of capitalism:

The Structures of Everyday Life: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century Volume 1

The Wheels of Commerce: Civilization & Capitalism 15th-18th Century, Vol. 2

The Perspective of the World: Civilization & Capitalism, 15th – 18th Century Volume 3

I covered these topics in my books Money and Work Unchained and A Radically Beneficial World, in which I explain why attempting to make one form of money do all the work we need money to do is doomed by the intrinsic limits of each form of money.

Money that excels at being a “store of value” fails in an expansive capitalist economy as a “means of exchange” for all the reasons outlined above, and all the fixes to this create additional problems, as outlined above.

This is why the Chinese introduced paper money: it wasn’t to rip off commoners via inflation, it was the necessary means of greasing local commerce in an economy without credit and scarce precious-metal coinage, much of which was in the hands of the wealthy as it was an excellent “store of value.”

Every fix that’s easy to understand and straightforward to apply has similar limits that generate inherent problems which cannot be resolved with easy fixes, as those fixes generate another set of problems.

So to end corruption, we impose more laws, more oversight, and stiffer penalties. But as recent revelations have shown, changing the rules of governance, adding transparency laws and boosting penalties did not stop corruption from seeping into every nook and cranny of America’s ruling elites.

As Lao Tzu observed, “The more laws and restrictions there are, the poorer people become. The more rules and regulations, the more thieves and robbers.“ Corruption isn’t reduced by adding more laws, it’s reduced by changing the incentives and what society accepts or deems unacceptable.

Adding more laws to be skirted by elites doesn’t change anything; only the withdrawal of The Mandate of Heaven can disempower elites serving their own interests with absolute impunity.

Here are other examples of “this one solution will fix the world.”

If there’s “plenty of energy, that fixes the world.“ But if inequality has reached extremes, having lots of energy for the wealthiest few to enjoy isn’t going to solve inequality, or the social disorder it generates.

Or this solution: AI will fix the world. Since AI is owned and controlled by the ruling elites, it will do nothing but entrench the extremes of inequality that are destabilizing the social, political and economic realms.

Or this: technology will fix all our problems. Putting data centers owned by our corporate overlords into orbit fixes nothing.

The point I endeavored to make in my Revolution Trilogy—The Mythology of Progress, Ultra-Processed Life and Investing in Revolution –is that all these conventional solutions are self-serving artifice, expedient illusions that relieve our anxiety but at the cost of leaving problems unaddressed while layering on more problems.

There are no monetary or technological fixes to moral decay and the corruption of ruling elites. Stable social orders–from tribes to empires–are successful because their ruling elites have a reciprocal relationship with the commoners who sustain the entire system. Each class has its own duties and responsibilities to the other classes.

Records from the Roman Empire’s rule in Egypt show that much of the ruling elite’s time was spent responding to pleas for assistance from the subservient classes and resolving administrative / managerial issues.

When ruling elites renounce reciprocity to serve their own interests with absolute impunity, then the social order soon reaches the “let them eat brioche” phase where society fragments. If redress (i.e. rebalancing) is suppressed, then retribution comes to the fore: the Mandate of Heaven is lost and chaos ensues.

In either case, the only way to reconnect reciprocity / rebalance a fatally imbalanced system is a social revolution that is neither political or economic per se but which transforms both the political and economic realms by changing what’s acceptable and what’s no longer acceptable.

Polycrisis can’t be untangled with simple top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions or by modifying the definition of the problem so some painless fix can be touted as a solution. These illusory fixes only make the problems worse.

The more productive approach is to decentralize control and capital so more flexible, adaptive units can experiment with solutions: households, communities, cities, counties, locally based enterprises and regions.

The entire Waste Is Growth Landfill Economy mindset must be replaced with new incentives based on a new understanding that artifice is not a replacement for authenticity, and monetizing what is most valuable destroys it.

Adapt or die sounds harsh, but if real adaptation is required, then illusory fixes, self-serving elites and expedient redefinitions of the problem will only accelerate the unraveling and the reckoning.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 16:20

Hormuz Paralyzed: Another Tanker Hit, Floating Parking Lot Of Ships Swells

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Hormuz Paralyzed: Another Tanker Hit, Floating Parking Lot Of Ships Swells

Update (1555ET):

The latest Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data, via Bloomberg, shows that tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been paralyzed, with only a few tankers still transiting the critical maritime energy chokepoint.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement on X that IRGC naval power has been severely degraded after U.S. forces and their allies eliminated at least eleven warships.

That may explain why Brent crude futures have not been able to sustain $80 per barrel, as traders appear to assess that the IRGC’s loss of warships would make any attempt to mount a blockade short-lived, especially given U.S. naval power in the region.

Late U.S. cash session, UBS analyst Jonathan Garber told clients that “Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander said the Strait of Hormuz is closed and they will set any ship on fire that tries to pass through, Reuters reports, citing Iranian media. WTI crude oil is now up more than 7% following the headlines.”

BBG Headlines:

  • IRGC ADVISER SAYS WON’T LET OIL LEAVE REGION: IRAN STATE TV

  • IRAN’S IRGC ADVISER EBRAHIM JABBARI SAYS ON STATE TV

However, the loss of IRGC naval power should not lead investors to discount the regime’s asymmetric capabilities, such as using missiles and drones to target tankers in the narrow waterway.

That risk appeared to materialize late in the U.S. cash session, when reports emerged that two IRGC drones struck the oil tanker Athen Nova.

*   *   * 

FGE NexantECA Chairman Emeritus Fereidun Fesharaki told Bloomberg TV on Monday morning that any attempt by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to choke off the critical Strait of Hormuz using warships, drones, and missiles would likely be short-lived, as the regime’s naval capability is too weak to sustain a blockade against U.S., British, and French naval forces.

“It’s just a fear factor,” Fesharaki said earlier on Bloomberg TV, following his prediction one week earlier on Bloomberg TV: “I don’t think the U.S. has a choice but to go to war. It is very hard for me to see a scenario in which they would simply avoid this, turn the ships around, and go home.” Fesharaki has tracked the market for decades.

Fesharaki said this morning, “The Revolutionary Guard navy is a minor force compared with what the American navy, the British, and the French can bring in.”

Fesharaki’s comments about the duration of the war mirrored President Trump’s remarks to The Daily Mail on Sunday, in which he said Operation Epic Fury would last about four weeks. He also described the IRGC as a “paper tiger.”

On Sunday, Trump announced that nine Iranian naval ships had been sunk in the operation.

“I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk nine Iranian naval ships, some of them relatively large and important,” Trump wrote in a post on X, adding that Iran’s naval headquarters has been “largely destroyed” in a different attack.

“We are going after the rest — they will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also!” Trump wrote.

Rapidan Energy Group analyst Fernando Ferreira provided more insight on the Strait:

Iran understands that threatening traffic through Hormuz is its most credible asymmetric lever. Even limited interference can raise oil prices and impose immediate economic costs on the U.S. and its partners, increasing pressure on Washington to de-escalate.

We expect at least moderate disruptions to Gulf oil flows in the coming days, with the risk tilted toward something more severe if tensions escalate further.

As of Monday morning, Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data via Bloomberg shows that tanker activity in the critical maritime energy chokepoint has mostly frozen, with limited transits.

Related:

Goldman analyst Adam Crook told clients over the weekend that any prolonged disruption of the Strait could push Brent crude prices toward $100/bbl. Currently, Brent crude futures trade around $79 as of 0900 ET.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 15:55

US Vigilant Against Possible Domestic Attacks Amid Iran War: Hegseth

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US Vigilant Against Possible Domestic Attacks Amid Iran War: Hegseth

Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times,

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says the Trump administration is monitoring for any sleeper cell activity in the United States.

Hegseth’s March 2 comments came after questions about a possible attack on the homeland in response to the strikes on Iran.

“We’re ready for that,” the secretary told reporters at the Pentagon.

“We’ve seen these types of folks before, and the American people can rest assured that we’re vigilant.”

Hegseth was also questioned about the March 1 shooting that took place in Austin, Texas, that resulted in multiple casualties.

According to reports from Austin Police, an armed man opened fire outside a bar, killing two and wounding 14 others.

FBI official Alex Doran told reporters that the shooter’s motivation had not been established. Evidence found on the individual and in his vehicle, however, suggests a “potential nexus to terrorism,” but “it’s still too early to make a determination,” he said.

When questioned about the attack over the weekend, Hegseth said that the event “does not change [Operation Epic Fury] at all.”

The operation in Iran is not slowing down, with Pentagon officials saying that additional U.S. forces will continue to flow into the Middle East.

The strikes on Iran have been termed “major combat operations,” and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine says hundreds of land and sea missions have been launched in Operation Epic Fury.

Caine offered a briefing alongside Hegseth, saying the U.S. military’s mission is to “protect and defend ourselves, and together with our regional partners, prevent Iran from the ability to project power outside of its borders.”

Hegseth and Caine emphasized the preparation that went into the recent military strike, saying the operation in Iran was the result of months, even years, of planning.

However, according to the general, the mission is not yet complete.

“We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize U.S. losses,” Caine added.

“The effort continues to scale,” Caine said, going on to describe the equipment used and extended efforts to take out Iranian weapons systems.

“I am proud today, as I am every day, to stand as a member of America’s Joint Force. There is no mission too complex, no distance too great, and no adversary too determined for the men and women who wear our nation’s uniform.”

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 15:40

NYC Pakistan-Owned Hotel Took $146M For Illegals But Owes $13M In Taxes

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NYC Pakistan-Owned Hotel Took $146M For Illegals But Owes $13M In Taxes

Authored by Luis Cornelio via HeadlineUSA,

The Pakistani government owes New York City taxpayers millions in unpaid taxes despite making nearly $150 million through the Roosevelt Hotel by housing illegal aliens. 

The Roosevelt Hotel, owned by Pakistani International Airlines, a quasi-state entity, has $13.6 million in overdue property taxes and nearly $1 million in unpaid water bills, according to the New York Post. 

The hotel became a hub for illegal aliens after then-New York City Mayor Eric Adams entered contracts allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to live on the premises. 

According to the Post, the Roosevelt Hotel processed more than 173,000 of the 232,000 illegal aliens in the city.  

Taxpayers paid a total of $146.6 million, or $202 per room each night, for roughly 2,600 illegal aliens each night from May 2023 through June 2025. 

Among those staying at the formerly luxury hotel was Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan gang member serving a life sentence without parole for the murder of nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia. 

The unpaid property taxes stem from a payment agreement with the city’s Department of Finance in September 2023, which required the hotel to pay $573,361 on Jan. 2. But as noted by the Post, that half-a-million-dollar bill again went unpaid, as did the $3.9 million half-year installment. 

But New Yorkers expecting those bills to be paid could be out of luck. 

The hotel recently entered a deal with the federal government to redevelop the landmark property, which could allow the Pakistani government to avoid future taxes. 

According to the Post, the arrangement might trigger a federal tax exemption, as the U.S. Department of State often asks city governments to grant exemptions when foreign governments purchase U.S. properties. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Finance said the agency has not “received” such a request but warned that prior charges “must still be paid.”

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 15:00

Trump Vows ‘Big Wave’ Yet To Come As Pentagon Boasts US Took Out Nearly All Iran’s Navy

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Trump Vows ‘Big Wave’ Yet To Come As Pentagon Boasts US Took Out Nearly All Iran’s Navy

Summary: President Trump opened Monday’s Medal of Honor ceremony in the White House East Wing with a carefully prepared, somewhat brief statement on Operation Epic Fury. Speaking deliberatively – but not quite with the level of his typically confident and energetic tone and demeanor – he spoke initially and broadly on the rationale for ordering the attack on Iran, which is now in day three and has taken at least four American troop lives at this point. Trump vowed to “crush” the “Iranian threat posed to the US,” claiming that “we will easily prevail”. He declared that already US forces have knocked out ten ships, and that the plan is to also ensure the Iranians “can’t fund armies beyond borders”. But high on the minds of Congressional leaders and the American public is: what’s next? Trump gave a timeline of a “projected four to five weeks” for war with Iran, “but we can go longer” and this will involve “whatever it takes.” He vowed to continue the mission with “unyielding resolve” – even amid reports that US Gulf allies UAE and Qatar are now lobbying allies to persuade Trump to end the Iran war soon (as the Gulf continues to feel the impact of Iran’s retaliatory strikes). The President just committed the nation to another potentially open-ended war in the Middle East.

  • CENTCOM: Six US service members have been killed in action.
  • Attacks reported on US bases and locations in Kuwait and Jordan.
  • Trump claims ‘big wave’ coming against Iran as Pentagon says more troops deployed to region
  • UAE Defense Ministry says air defenses intercepted 9 ballistic missiles and 148 drones
  • IDF says it struck over 70 Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Lebanon
  • In the middle of remarks on Iran, Trump touts White House ballroom construction
  • US military says it has struck over 1,250 targets in Iran since start of ops
  • CENTCOM: Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO.
  • IDF Intelligence Chief: “We eliminated in 40 seconds more than 40 of the most important people in Iran, but we haven’t finished. There is no place where we won’t find our enemies.”
  • The IDF struck numerous assets belonging to the financial institution that helps Hezbollah sustain itself.
  • NATO leadership says alliance won’t join US-Israeli Iran ops
  • Trump says he does not rule out sending ground troops to Iran: “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” Trump said after launching strikes Saturday to decapitate Iran’s military and political leadership. “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.’”
  • QatarEnergy’s LNG production halt could shake up global gas markets.
  • Iran FM: Regional countries should pressure US to halt Iran strikes, says not at war with Gulf/regional countries
  • Advisor to IRGC says Strait of Hormuz has been closed and they will target any ship. Whether true or not: How many ships will be willing to go through with Iranian kamikaze drones taking pot shots?

* * *

Update(1015ET): The Pentagon has announced it has gained complete ‘local air superiority’ over Iran, and also that Israel continues working with the US to eliminate ‘common threats’. This came soon on the heels of the shocking news of three US F-15s downed over Kuwait. Iran is claiming to have shot down at least one US jet, while the US and Kuwait counter-claim that it was actually Kuwaiti ‘friendly fire’. Some six total US airmen parachuted down safely into Kuwaiti territory.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has meanwhile stated that at this point approximately 600 Iranian infrastructure sites have been dismantled in Iran using 2,500 munitions. These sites included “over 20 targets belonging to Iranian military leaders,” the IDF said. But as the conflict expands into Lebanon, and as many Gulf countries continue witnessing inbound Iranian missiles and drones, NATO command has distanced itself from the conflict, with Secretary General Mark Rutte stating Monday that the alliance “will not participate” in the joint US-Israeli mission. The Joint Chiefs say that more American service members are being added to the operation.

THE BIG WAR GAMBLE… or, Rabobank’s take paraphrased down to a single key sentence:

The US strike on Iran is Trump’s high-risk gamble to choke China’s energy lifeline, flip Tehran to allied control, open the India-Middle East-Europe corridor, weaken Russia, and lock in 21st-century US hegemony—delivering quick regime change and falling oil prices that cement Trumpism as a historic win, OR sparking Middle East chaos and global blowback that hands Beijing the advantage in a new age of empires.

In the meantime, War Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared on the defensive in a Pentagon briefing early Monday. He confirmed there are as yet no US boots on the ground, while also seeking to assure the American public this is not an “endless war”. And yet, reporters were still left frustrated by lack of a clear timeline, or laying out of specific objectives which must be accomplished before Operation Epic Fury is declared over. There was a moment where Hegseth erupted at a reporter’s question, revealing that tensions are high at the Pentagon:

But worrisomely for the prospect of escalation, NBC observes that Hegseth did not rule out boots on the ground:

Asked whether U.S. boots are on the ground, Hegseth said no, but said he would not lay out what the U.S. could do as the operation continues.

Hegseth said that Trump ensures that the country’s enemies know that the U.S. will go as far as it needs to in order to advance the U.S.’ interests.

Time will tell if this firm pledge becomes a reality or not:

 U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that military operations against Iran would not lead to an “endless war” and that the aim was to destroy Tehran’s missiles, Navy and other security infrastructure.

“We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically,” Hegseth said during a press conference at the Pentagon.

Screenshot: Massive bombing of Tehran on Day 3 continues.

Trump previously told The Daily Mail he expects the operation could take up to four weeks. One month of intense war will seem like a lifetime, given how fast events at the ‘blowback’ have been coming over the last some 48 to 72 hours. And he’s just told CNN: “We are about to hit them hard, the operation is progressing very well, the big wave hasn’t happened yet and it will come soon.”

Blowback effects mounting:

Hegseth and Gen. Caine offered condolences to families of the fallen: “I want to express my deep condolences and the condolences of the joint force to the Department of War personnel killed and wounded in action,” Caine said, calling the fallen soldiers heroes who “represent the best of our nation has to offer. They’re true examples of what selfless service means.”.

* * *

It is only day three of ‘Operation Epic Fury’ and Americans are waking up to shocking images of US fighter jets going down over Kuwait, and the incredibly rare scene of pilots parachuting down with a look of disbelief and confusion…

US CENTCOM has confirmed, following a Kuwaiti government statement, “At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident.”

That’s three US warplanes in apparently one incident. How does that happen? Of course, given the already thick fog of war and propaganda narratives fast going back and forth, it’s entirely possible they could have been shot down by Iranian defenses or jets from just across the border. Iran is saying it has shot down at least one US F-15 fighter jet:

IRAN SAYS IT SHOT DOWN US F-15 FIGHTER JET: TASNIM

Here’s the fuller CENTCOM narrative:

CENTCOM: “During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses. All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation.”

American pilot found by Kuwait police and locals, via X.

Given there’s now an official Pentagon casualty/death count, and given the fact that the Gulf allies and especially Israel are getting hit hard by Iran’s significant ballistic missile arsenal, President Trump himself may now be (only too late) realize he just bit off more than he can chew in ordering this ultra-risky regime change operation.

There’s as yet no clear endgame. Trump has talked about reaching objectives – without defining them, in something eerily (and predictably!) familiar with the 2003 Iraq war under Bush and the Neocons. Recall too that Trump just told The Atlantic magazine on Sunday morning that Tehran wanted to speak to him while feeling the pressure of the bombs falling, and that he was willing to do so. “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” he said from his residence in Florida.

But soon after it became clear that’s not happening – the Iranian genie is out of the bottle …or we could say Pandora’s Box Persian-style, which could make even Iraq look like a cakewalk. Adding insult to injury is that this is everything Trump and his team campaigned against.

Trump has already pivoted to saying the conflict looks to take up to four weeks (will it take years as Iraq did? nobody knows). Below is the man that was tapped by the slain Ayatollah Khamenei to run the day to day in his stead:

And to that, the Pentagon responds… also with Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on Monday morning declaring that the US has local air superiority in Iran.

Israel is taking significant casualties, especially after Sunday’s direct large Iranian warhead impact on a town near Jerusalem which left at least 9 dead and dozens wounded. Hezbollah has entered the war and in response Israel is once again pounding southern Lebanon and Beirut. Major international airports in the Gulf, particularly in the UAE, have bit hit by missiles and drones – also as US bases across the Gulf continue to be targeted. Even British-US bases on Cyprus have come under drone attack.

Gulf nations are seeing casualties, and even other European bases in the region have come under fire. American bases in northern Iraq have also been heavily targeted in Iran’s retaliation waves. These have been sustained, particularly on Israel. One question which we’ve been covering remains: which side will have the missile and firepower arsenal to outlast the other? …as the costs will soon enter the billions. Most importantly, as of Monday morning CENTCOM has newly confirmed four American troops killed in the operation.

Needless to say, if Trump’s thinking really approached this as if it was ‘one and done’ Venezuela, and that after some quick salvo a country of 90 million with a well-armed and experienced military would immediately shout ‘uncle!’ – he’s probably already realizing the situation is spiraling out of control far beyond his expectation. But he was clearly and loudly warned. Yet, it’s also true that Iranian top leadership is fast being decimated – with over 40 top officers reportedly killed. But Iran is able to fill these ranks fast, most likely.

Shock & Awe on Tehran

In Washington right now, the biggest story centers on headlines of “paranoia” and deep “anxiety” at the Pentagon in in national security council ranks:

Pentagon officials are worried about Donald Trump’s Iran strikes spiraling out of control if they stick to his timeline.

While the president boasts that the strikes could continue for several more weeks, military leaders are sounding the alarm behind the scenes about U.S. air defense stockpiles running out if the fighting goes on that long. “The mood here is intense and paranoid,” one insider told The Washington Post.

It seems the Pentagon is already throwing the White House and Trump under the bus, or is at least doing so through ‘anonymous’ quotes given to WaPo, NYT, CNN and others:

Pentagon briefers acknowledged to congressional staff in a briefing Sunday that Iran was not planning to strike US forces or bases in the Middle East unless Israel attacked Iran first, undercutting the administration’s argument Saturday that Tehran was planning to potentially strike the US preemptively and posed an imminent threat, according to multiple people who attended the briefing.

Senior administration officials told reporters Saturday that the US chose to attack Iran because it had received indications the regime was planning to launch missile attacks against US bases in the region preemptively and create a mass casualty situation. CNN reported Saturday that sources said there was no intelligence to support the administration’s claim.

And after all, Iran’s economy was already brought to its knees through years of crippling sanctions, and the Iranians appeared to come hat in hand to the negotiating table in Geneva.

To recount the warning late last month issued by no less than the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine – the issues already facing American forces were clearly outlined and predicted. According to out prior paraphrase and outline of what’s being freshly reported by WSJ:

1) Caine warned that the war plans under consideration carry a high risk of significant American and allied casualties.

2) He cautioned that a multi-day campaign would exhaust air-defense munitions and other limited-supply items, which are critical for protecting regional partners like Israel if Iran retaliates.

3) An intensive operation against Iran could deplete stockpiles to a level that would complicate U.S. readiness for a potential future conflict with China.

4) He described the potential campaign as one that could “stretch the military thin” and leave forces “overtaxed”.

5) Caine’s gave “high likelihood of success” reassurances before the January 2026 mission to apprehend Nicolas Maduro, he has been unable to provide similar guarantees regarding a large-scale strike on Iran.

Below is a review of the mounting casualties across the region from Operation Epic Fury. The US has so far issued an official count of four US troops killed and five others seriously wounded. That could already be significantly higher, unfortunately – along with the below numbers which are expected to climb:

  • Iran: At least 555 people have died since joint US-Israeli strikes began, according to the Red Crescent Society. Iranian state media reported that 168 students were killed in an airstrike on a girls’ elementary school, with three more students killed in separate attacks in Tehran and northern Iran. China’s foreign ministry confirmed that one Chinese national was also killed.

  • Lebanon: Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon and Beirut have killed at least 31 people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

  • Israel: At least 10 people have been killed and more than 200 wounded since Israel launched operations against Iran, according to Magen David Adom. Nine of the dead were in Beit Shemesh, where a missile struck a bomb shelter.

  • Iraq: A US-Israeli strike hit a headquarters of Iraq’s Iran-aligned Popular Mobilization Forces, killing four members, the group’s Media Directorate said.

  • United Arab Emirates: Iran’s retaliatory strikes killed three people in the UAE, the defense ministry said. The victims—nationals of Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh—were killed after Iranian drones penetrated the country’s air defenses.

  • Kuwait: Three US service members were killed in a suspected drone attack early Sunday, according to sources familiar with the incident. Separately, Kuwait’s health ministry reported one fatality from Iranian strikes.

  • Bahrain: One person died after debris from an intercepted missile ignited a fire aboard a “foreign vessel” in Salman Industrial City, according to Bahraini state media.

War spreads to Israel-Hezbollah theatre in Lebanon:

To again cite, Glenn Greenwald, who summarized best how we got where we are: “For decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American neoconservatives have dreamed of only one foreign policy goal: having the United States fight a regime-change war against Iran. With the Oval Office occupied by Donald Trump — who campaigned for a full decade on a vow to end regime-change wars and vanquish neoconservatism — their goal has finally been realized.”

On the question of grand strategy and the White House’s likely long term global geopolitical chessboard vision, we have also featured that The Iran Question Is All About China.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 14:55

AI ‘Vibe Coding’ Could Put Ethereum Roadmap Ahead Of Schedule: Vitalik Buterin

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AI ‘Vibe Coding’ Could Put Ethereum Roadmap Ahead Of Schedule: Vitalik Buterin

Authored by Martin Young via CoinTelegraph.com,

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says an experiment that used artificial intelligence to prototype the blockchain’s roadmap out to 2030 in just a few weeks could have lessons for developers. 

“This is quite an impressive experiment. Vibe-coding the entire 2030 roadmap within weeks,” Buterin posted to X on Saturday after a developer made a bet with Buterin in February that one person could use AI to code a reference implementation of the blockchain’s roadmap.

Buterin added that AI is “massively accelerating coding” and that people “should be open to the possibility that the Ethereum roadmap will finish much faster than people expect, at a much higher standard of security than people expect.”

Vibe coding is where AI creates the code for an application, allowing developers to quickly create software. The practice has become more popular as AI models have improved at coding; however, some warn that AI-generated code can be insecure.

ETH2030 architecture stack. Source: YQ

Buterin says AI code would have “critical bugs”

Buterin said that there were “massive caveats” to using AI, as the speed at which the code was written means it “almost certainly has lots of critical bugs, and probably in some cases ‘stub’ versions of a thing where the AI did not even try making the full version.”

“But six months ago, even this was far outside the realm of possibility, and what matters is where the trend is going,” he added.

Buterin cautioned that, instead of focusing on speed, more emphasis should be placed on security. 

“The right way to use it is to take half the gains from AI in speed, and half the gains in security: generate more test-cases, formally verify everything, make more multi-implementations of things.”

He said that he was personally excited about the possibility that bug-free code, “long considered an idealistic delusion,” will finally become first possible and “then a basic expectation.”

Buterin has been active commenting on the recently released roadmap from the Ethereum Foundation, “Strawmap,” which outlines all upgrades planned for the next four years. 

He has previously proposed plans to make Ethereum quantum-resistant and on Sunday said that account abstraction, or smart accounts, would “happen within a year.” 

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 14:00

Top Energy Analyst Says Iran’s Navy Too Weak To Completely Choke Hormuz

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Top Energy Analyst Says Iran’s Navy Too Weak To Completely Choke Hormuz

FGE NexantECA Chairman Emeritus Fereidun Fesharaki told Bloomberg TV on Monday morning that any attempt by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to choke off the critical Strait of Hormuz using warships, drones, and missiles would likely be short-lived, as the regime’s naval capability is too weak to sustain a blockade against U.S., British, and French naval forces.

“It’s just a fear factor,” Fesharaki said earlier on Bloomberg TV, following his prediction one week earlier on Bloomberg TV: “I don’t think the U.S. has a choice but to go to war. It is very hard for me to see a scenario in which they would simply avoid this, turn the ships around, and go home.” Fesharaki has tracked the market for decades.

Fesharaki said this morning, “The Revolutionary Guard navy is a minor force compared with what the American navy, the British, and the French can bring in.”

Fesharaki’s comments about the duration of the war mirrored President Trump’s remarks to The Daily Mail on Sunday, in which he said Operation Epic Fury would last about four weeks. He also described the IRGC as a “paper tiger.”

On Sunday, Trump announced that nine Iranian naval ships had been sunk in the operation.

“I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk nine Iranian naval ships, some of them relatively large and important,” Trump wrote in a post on X, adding that Iran’s naval headquarters has been “largely destroyed” in a different attack.

“We are going after the rest — they will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also!” Trump wrote.

Rapidan Energy Group analyst Fernando Ferreira provided more insight on the Strait:

Iran understands that threatening traffic through Hormuz is its most credible asymmetric lever. Even limited interference can raise oil prices and impose immediate economic costs on the U.S. and its partners, increasing pressure on Washington to de-escalate.

We expect at least moderate disruptions to Gulf oil flows in the coming days, with the risk tilted toward something more severe if tensions escalate further.

As of Monday morning, Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data via Bloomberg shows that tanker activity in the critical maritime energy chokepoint has mostly frozen, with limited transits.

Related:

Goldman analyst Adam Crook told clients over the weekend that any prolonged disruption of the Strait could push Brent crude prices toward $100/bbl. Currently, Brent crude futures trade around $79 as of 0900 ET.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 13:40

Construction Spending On Data Centers, Factories, Powerplants, And Office Buildings: Boom, Bust, And In Between

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Construction Spending On Data Centers, Factories, Powerplants, And Office Buildings: Boom, Bust, And In Between

Authored by Wolf Richter via Wolf Street,

Construction spending on data centers in 2025 exploded by 32% from the prior year, by over 100% in two years, and by 344% from 2020, to $41 billion, according to the Census Bureau on Friday. Spending on construction costs of data centers used to be buried in office construction and was minimal compared to office construction. But more recently, the Census Bureau split out data-center construction spending going back to 2014.

Construction costs of data centers are only a relatively small portion of the immense amounts spent on AI infrastructure, most of which goes into electronic and electrical equipment, from AI servers to power generation equipment. Construction spending on data centers does not include the costs of the servers and racks but does include the cooling systems in the building and other built-in electrical equipment.

It takes years from the decision to build a data center to the data center being actually operational. And the massive amounts of capital expenditures announced by AI-related Corporate America in 2025 and the plans for 2026 haven’t yet shown up in the construction costs.

The amounts of capital expenditures being thrown around for 2026 are fantastical. Five companies alone – Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Oracle – have announced plans for $700 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, largely for AI-related projects. And how will they get this cash next year?

So this construction boom is not slowing down, unless tripped up by further the shortages of all kinds, such as power from the grid, power generators when there is no grid power, electrical equipment, electricians, specialized labor, etc.

Inflation for construction costs for nonresidential buildings jumped by 1.1% in January from December, according to the Producer Price Index (PPI) for nonresidential construction, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday (it was hot all around). Year-over-year, the nonresidential construction PPI was up by 2.8%, almost all of which occurred over the past four months.

From January 2021 through December 2022, over those two years, prices had exploded by 34%. From the beginning of 2023 to mid-2025, prices flattened out. But they’re now taking off again.

Over the years 2021-2025, the PPI for nonresidential construction rose by 41%. With spending on data center construction up by 344% over the same period, the red-hot construction spending boom is not a result of inflation – but of the AI investment mania.

Construction spending on manufacturing plants has soared coming out of the pandemic. In 2025, at $220 billion, it was up by 192% from 2020.

This $220 billion in 2025 is over five times the amount spent on data centers ($41 billion).

The production equipment in the plant, such as the industrial robots, is not part of the construction costs. And they’re much more costly than the building itself.

Though still running at a red-hot pace, construction spending on factories has backed off from the spike in 2024, possibly as construction resources have been pulled away by the boom in data center construction, and amid reports of bottlenecks, shortages of skilled labor, and ICE hauling off workers from construction sites.

After decades of globalization, there is now a widespread rethink underway about production in the US.

These factories will all be highly automated to where manual labor is only a relatively small part of the product costs. Every year, year after year, decade after decade, automation improves, and companies try to cut their labor costs by expanding automation.

Within factory construction, spending on factories for computers, electronic, and electrical equipment exploded by 1,300% since 2020, from $9 billion in 2020 to $104 billion in 2025. This includes semiconductor plants and plants that build electrical equipment for the AI infrastructure boom.

Powerplant construction is a highly regulated process in terms of permitting and approvals, and it takes years from the decision to build a power plant to having a functional power plant hooked to the grid.

In 2025, a record $158 billion was spent on building power plants, up by 34% from 2020.

Electricity prices have soared by 41% over the past five years as demand for electricity has surged, after being roughly flat for 14 years. This increase in demand was largely driven by the new data centers.

But utilities and power generators are leery of spending billions of dollars on generation and distribution capacity for data centers that might never work out after the AI investment mania fizzles, which would turn these investments into stranded assets.

This leeriness is fed by the many hedge funds with ag land that want a utility to commit billions of dollars to run a high-voltage powerline to it, and possibly build a power plant to supply it with power, so that the hedge fund can then sell the ag land at a huge profit as data-center ready to some hyperscaler. If that deal doesn’t happen, the utility ends up with an expensive stranded asset.

Office building construction has taken a massive hit after it became clear that office landlords were getting into serious trouble as demand for office space collapsed during the pandemic. Countless landlords defaulted on their office mortgages, and numerous buildings were seized by lenders and sold in foreclosure sales for cents on the dollar. The going rate for office building transactions is now at discounts of 30% to 70% from pre-pandemic prices. The delinquency rate for office CMBS spiked to record 12.3% in January. And there are efforts underway in expensive markets to convert office towers into residential towers, while smaller office buildings get torn down and replaced with housing. Office CRE has been in a depression since 2022.

In a way, it seems surprising that anyone would still spend good money on office buildings, but it’s the old office towers that are in trouble, while the latest and greatest office towers see more demand from the flight to quality that high vacancy rates made possible.

So spending on office construction (not including data centers) dropped further in 2025, to $49 billion, the lowest since 2015, and down by 32% from the peak in 2020.

Some of this spending is for buildings that were planned years ago and that are being completed now. For example, JP Morgan’s $3-billion tower at 270 Park Avenue in Manhattan was announced in 2018, was formally topped off in November 2023, and had its grand opening in October 2025.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 13:20

SaaS: Is There Opportunity In The Destruction?

survivalnomics
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SaaS: Is There Opportunity In The Destruction?

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

A specter is haunting Wall Street – the specter of the “SaaSpocalypse.” Since the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) peaked on September 19, 2025, it has fallen roughly 30%. For context, the broad technology indexes like XLK and QQQ are essentially flat over the same period, and the semiconductor ETF (SMH) is up 30%. Between mid-January and mid-February 2026 alone, approximately one trillion dollars was wiped from the collective value of software stocks, with the S&P North American Software Index posting its worst monthly decline since the 2008 financial crisis.

The catalyst was a series of AI product launches, most notably Anthropic’s Claude Cowork tool and OpenAI’s enterprise agent, Frontier, demonstrating that AI agents can now handle complex knowledge work autonomously. The market’s interpretation was simple. If AI agents can replicate what enterprise software does, then enterprise software is finished. That is the narrative that has taken hold in recent weeks. The consequence has been brutal. Workday is down 35% year-to-date. Adobe has shed 26%. Salesforce, 25%. Atlassian plunged 35% in a single week. Even Microsoft, the ultimate blue chip, fell by more than 10%.

The thesis is straightforward enough. Generative AI can now write code, automate workflows, and rapidly and cheaply create customized applications. Therefore, if enterprises can build their own “disposable software,” micro-apps tailored to specific workflows, instead of paying bloated subscription fees, then the traditional per-seat SaaS pricing model is dead. Potentially worse is that AI lowers barriers to entry, enabling more competitors to quickly replicate existing software. Such would compress margins and weaken the moats that once protected large software firms.

It is a compelling narrative. The question investors must answer is whether it is true.

Will AI Actually Kill Software Stocks? Not So Fast

Like most market narratives, the SaaSpocalypse contains some truth, a great deal of speculation, and several outright falsehoods. The most important rebuttal is that the value of enterprise software has never resided solely in its code. Enterprise software encodes institutional architecture. That architecture is the deep domain knowledge, compliance frameworks, workflow logic, and years of organizational customization that companies depend on to function. Think about it this way. If you are a medium to large enterprise dependent on data to service customers, maintain workflows, and fulfill orders, are you going to trust something that AI created that is potentially unreliable or error-ridden? Or, are you more likely to rely on software with deep local context, reliable outputs, and that has been rigorously tested and debugged over years of application use?

“Add deep workflow embedding to the mix and the picture becomes clearer still. When a SaaS platform is the system of record inside core banking, hospital EHRs, or government case management, replacement isn’t a technical decision, it’s an organisational trauma. Staff retraining, data migration, permission re-architecture, and regulatory re-certification make a rip-and-replace approach impractical, even when a cheaper AI-built alternative exists on paper.” – LiveWire

Furthermore, the underlying data does not support the skepticism either. Gartner’s February 2026 forecast projects worldwide software spending will grow 14.7% in 2026 to more than $1.4 trillion, accelerating from 11.5% growth in 2025. That represents roughly $180 billion in net new software spending in a single year. Global SaaS spending specifically is projected to rise from $318 billion in 2025 to $576 billion by 2029, according to Forrester. The reality is that enterprises are not abandoning software; they are spending more on it. As Mark Gardner recently noted:

“However, this sell-off is analytically lazy. And it’s being driven, at least in part, by the very technology it fears hallucinating on its own research. We believe the difference this time is that investors have the opportunity to look through the noise and identify the SaaS businesses where the structural moats are not just intact, they’re actually widening.

It was also fascinating to listen to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff in CRM’s latest quarterly earnings report. He specifically addressed the panic, invoking the term “SaaSpocalypse” at least 6 times. His point was blunt: this is not Salesforce’s first existential scare, and AI is making their products more valuable, not less. The company introduced a new metric, agentic work units, designed to capture the output-driven value of its AI-enabled platform. More importantly, Gartner’s own analysts note that GenAI features are now ubiquitous across enterprise software and are increasingly costly. In other words, the cost of software is going up precisely because of AI, not in spite of it. There is a meaningful difference between a technology that changes how software works and one that makes software unnecessary.

Survivors and Thrivers: Which SaaS Companies Have the Strongest Moats

If the SaaSpocalypse narrative proves to be more panic than prophecy, the critical task becomes identifying which companies will emerge stronger. Forrester’s research provides a useful framework: horizontal point-solution vendors with low switching costs and weak enterprise integration face genuine existential risk. But vertical- or domain-specific SaaS vendors, those addressing complex industries like healthcare, manufacturing, or financial services, or those controlling unique proprietary data, have a substantially greater chance of survival and even growth.

Furthermore, even before the “SaaSpocalypse” began, the revaluation of these companies was already well underway, and current prices are nowhere near the 2021 froth levels.

Therefore, as investors, we need to think about “separating the wheat from the chaff.” While valuations and fundamentals are important, the key will be finding the companies best positioned in the market. Those companies share several characteristics.

  • First, platform-scale incumbents that serve as systems of record, Salesforce, Microsoft, Oracle, and ServiceNow, possess deep integration into enterprise workflows that cannot easily be replicated by a general-purpose AI agent. These companies are rapidly embedding AI agents alongside their existing deterministic processes, particularly for regulated industries.

  • Second, cybersecurity firms like Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike occupy a category where AI is additive rather than substitutive. As enterprises deploy more AI systems, the attack surface expands.

  • Third, data infrastructure and vertical SaaS companies that sit at the foundation of AI workloads or control proprietary domain data benefit directly from the same trend punishing commodity application vendors.

The table below highlights eight companies across four categories whose reported metrics most closely align with the characteristics that separate durable SaaS businesses from vulnerable ones.

So, where do you start your process?

Investor Playbook: Metrics That Matter and How to Position

For investors, the current dislocation presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

The biggest challenge is overcoming the “fear of loss.” Loss-avoidance is an emotional behavior that impedes our ability to “buy low,” as we fear prices will keep falling indefinitely. However, logic and fundamentals quickly refute that concern. However, it is a “barrier to entry” that keeps investors sidelined when prices decline, even as opportunities increase.

The statistical evidence of overshoot is significant. As Michael Lebowitz noted last week, the price ratio between IGV and XLK has diverged by nearly four standard deviations from historical norms over the past 100 days.

Based on the five-year relationship, either XLK is 10% overpriced, or IGV is 10% underpriced. When statistical relationships stretch this far, mean reversion eventually follows—though we caution that in environments where narratives are this powerful, divergences can persist longer than models suggest.

With this in mind, we suggest that doing your homework rather than listening to narratives is where the opportunity lies. Therefore, the right approach is to be surgical, rather than thematic. Rather than buying the entire beaten-down sector via IGV, which is okay if you only seek “average” returns, we think focusing on individual company fundamentals will yield better results. Therefore, here are a few metrics you can use to separate genuine AI beneficiaries from vulnerable incumbents. These metrics include:

  • Price-To-Earnings Growth (PEG): Measures the current price of the shares relative to their expected growth rate of earnings in the future. PEG ratios of 1 or less are considered to be cheap valuations.

  • Net Revenue Retention (NRR): Measures whether existing customers are spending more over time. Companies maintaining NRR above 120% demonstrate that AI features are expanding wallet share rather than cannibalizing it.

  • Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO): Measures whether forward demand is accelerating or decelerating, cutting through the noise of quarterly revenue.

  • Free cash flow margins: Reveals whether companies can fund their AI transformation internally or must dilute shareholders to compete.

  • AI attach rates: Measures the percentage of customers adopting AI-powered product tiers. It provides a real-time indicator of whether the AI transition is generating revenue or merely generating press releases.

A sustained SaaS recovery, as EBC Financial Group’s analysis notes, will likely require at least two of three conditions:

  • More accommodative financial conditions,

  • Enhanced earnings visibility, and/or

  • A shift in the narrative from viewing AI as a threat to recognizing its monetization potential.

We think the latter two are the most likely.

For now, investors should remain cautiously positioned. Make small bets, manage your risk exposure, and give yourself plenty of time. The recognition of value often takes longer than logic would suggest, particularly when negative momentum is strong.

The SaaSpocalypse makes for dramatic headlines, but the idea that AI agents will simply devour enterprise software whole ignores both the data and the institutional complexity of the businesses being disrupted. The real risk for investors is not that they are too slow to sell their SaaS holdings. It is that they eventually get stampeded by market panic into undervaluing companies whose competitive positions are, in many cases, strengthening.

Discipline, not panic, is the appropriate response.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/02/2026 – 12:40

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