It’s Monday, March 2. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Why the strikes against Iran are really about China. How Western obituaries soft-pedaled the blood on Khamenei’s hands. Tyler Cowen explains the real meaning of the fight between the Pentagon and Anthropic. And more.
But first: What happens if the war against Iran goes badly?
Since the strikes against Iran began Saturday morning, we’ve focused our coverage on the strategy behind the bombing that led to the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, the prospect of regime change, and what that could mean not just for Iran but the Middle East. This morning, we start with two pieces that focus on how the war is playing here in the U.S.
First up is contributing writer Elliot Ackerman, who, as a Marine, fought in the Iraq War. He notes that according to a recent Reuters poll, only one in four Americans supports the strike against Iran. In terms of domestic politics, Ackerman writes, “Trump has little margin for error.” And in his view, the chances of an error—of this war going wrong, as happened in both Iraq and Afghanistan—are high. As he put it, “It is possible to imagine [Trump’s] strategy going right. . . . It is also possible to imagine all of this going wrong.”
Elliot makes the case against the war, and his sober analysis deserves a thoughtful read:
While Elliot’s view is informed by America’s attempt at regime change in Iraq, Niall Ferguson argues that all the signs show 2026 will not be a rerun of 2003. If you missed his initial essay on the strikes, read it here:
Meanwhile, Daniel McCarthy, the editor of Modern Age and a member of the dovish wing of the conservative movement, dissects how the strikes are playing—and are likely to play—with the president’s base. Noting that some of Trump’s prominent MAGA supporters feel the president has abandoned his “America First” stance, he asks: “Will Republican voters in November’s midterm elections be as willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt as Republicans in Congress are? Or will they feel as ill-used as many of MAGA’s online influencers do?” Read his answer here:
Up next: the media wringing its hands over Khamenei’s death—and the Iranians celebrating.
When the U.S. and Israeli strikes took out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the world had one less tyrant. His legacy is drenched in blood—the blood of Israelis who died at the hands of Iranian proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, the blood of Americans killed in Iranian attacks on U.S military facilities, and most of all, the blood of his own people who were killed by the thousands when they rose up in protest. But some of the obituaries in the Western press told a very different story. Maya Sulkin writes on how Khamanei’s obituaries whitewashed a terrorist’s legacy.
While the media wrung their hands, Iranian Americans could not have been happier that Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike. In cities across the U.S., thousands flooded the streets to celebrate his death, and voice their hope that freedom for their country might finally be at hand. Jonas Du hit the streets of Washington, D.C., to hear their harrowing stories and witness their relief firsthand.
Operation Epic Fury, this weekend’s joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran, has been primarily described as an extraordinary assault on the world’s leading state sponsor of terror. But, argues Zineb Riboua, that description misses a critical dimension—the effect of the strike on China. Read her piece to find out why the attack on Iran is the opening act of the Indo-Pacific century.
In addition to fighting Iran, the Pentagon was also in a war of words back home—against Anthropic, one of the country’s leading AI companies. With the company at loggerheads with the Department of Defense about whether Anthropic can demand restrictions on how its technology is used, the Pentagon has essentially fired the company and plans to use Open AI instead. Today, Tyler Cowen explains why the fight is a proxy for something much bigger: a test of how the United States will govern the frontier of the AI revolution.
Dear Abigail, What should you say if you see your child gaining weight? Should you intervene—or keep quiet? Addressing a loved one’s weight is one of society’s touchiest subjects, and it’s the one our advice columnist Abigail Shrier takes on in the latest installment of Tough Love. Read her response to find out how a parent should balance love, concern, and independence in the GLP-1 era.
Sarah Flick is among the last generation of Jews to have relatives who fled Europe before WWII. Her grandparents, like most such refugees, were poor, and were escaping persecution. Which is why it has horrified her to see them recast all these decades later as “white colonizers.” “With my own limited time remaining on this earth, I have come to feel a powerful need to tell my grandparents’ stories,” she writes. “Time is running out to try and set the record straight.”
What does conservatism mean in an age of rising populism and institutional distrust? Coleman Hughes sat down with one of the smartest conservative thinkers around, Yuval Levin, to find out. In the latest installment of Conversations with Coleman, Levin argues that the deepest divide in American politics is no longer left versus right, but populism versus institutions. The two cover everything from the politics of AI to the fight for the soul of higher education, in a wide-ranging conversation that revolves around a single premise: The Constitution was built for a divided moment like this.
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THE NEWS
Three U.S. troops were killed and five were seriously injured as Iran countered the U.S. strikes this weekend with strikes of their own on U.S. bases and facilities in the Middle East. President Trump said Sunday that the conflict could last “four weeks or so,” and might result in further casualties.
A mass shooting in Austin, Texas, killed three and injured 14 others at a popular bar early Sunday morning. The FBI is investigating whether the shooting was an act of terrorism. According to an AP source in law enforcement, the shooter was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and declaring “Property of Allah.”
President Trump announced Sunday that he is willing to speak with the new leadership of Iran, following the death of Khamenei. “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner,” the president said.
The Treasury Department said Friday that they have terminated union contracts for all IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service workers. The move signals an escalation of the federal government’s push for increased control over the departments.
U.S. Senate candidates in Texas made their final push on the campaign trail this weekend, ahead of Tuesday’s primary. The race between U.S Rep. Jasmine Crockett and State Rep. James Talarico will be watched especially closely, as the Democrats look to topple Republican dominance of the Lone Star State.
“MAGA” online influencers are not in the same club as republican voters. Heck, they’re not in the same club as dem voters either. They’re in the club of “me first” not America first. Tucker, Owens, all of them can go kick rocks. They’re like distasteful movie stars at this point- I’m tired of listening to their unqualified opinions and wish they just did interviews instead of injecting their toxic opinions on all of us.
Combat operations and/ or combat strikes ain't War. War Powers Act 1973 is pretty specific with 48 hours notice and 60 days. Pledges of no boots is good enough for me. Plans for "after" got us repeatedly into protraction in past conflicts or wars.
No pundit has anything like inside information to CentCom.
This action is needed, in my opinion. The larger picture of reclaiming our hemisphere (Venezuela) and protecting the US and once and for all solving the ME thorny problem plaguing the entire world. Undoubtedly this will lead to more Abraham accords, cooperation between the ME and the US, Israel, and the world. The additional pressure on China/Russia brings more future cooperation.