UNCONDITIONAL: President Trump declared on social media that he would settle for nothing short of “unconditional surrender” by Iran, setting a standard that could lead to a protracted conflict. With considerably diminished military capacity, Iran is still fighting back with no indication of giving up.

  The Washington Post reports that; “A classified report by the National Intelligence Council found that even a large-scale assault on Iran launched by the United States would be unlikely to oust the Islamic republic’s entrenched military and clerical establishment.”

  Iran has extended the war to as many as 14 neighboring countries as it flails under US and Israeli bombardment. Bahrain, for example, said it had intercepted 86 missiles and 148 drones launched by Iran since the start of the war a week ago.

  But in one concession, Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said in a televised address that his military would no longer attack “neighboring countries.” Trump posted on social media that, “Iran, which is being beat to HELL, has apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore.”   That came while Israel said today that it had launched “a broad-scale wave of strikes” overnight across the Iranian capital of Tehran and central Iran. 

  Trump blustered in his post, “Iran is no longer the “Bully of the Middle East,” they are, instead, “THE LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST,” and will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse!”

  The number of deaths in Iran so far is measured in the hundreds.

  Trump’s earlier post said that after Iran’s surrender would come “the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s),” and a promise that the United States and its allies “will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction.”

 “It’s going to work very easily. It’s going to work like in Venezuela,” Trump told CNN in a brief telephone conversation yesterday. He said he’s not worried whether there would be a democratic or religious government.  “I don’t mind religious leaders,” he said. “I deal with a lot of religious leaders.”

CUBA: Getting little attention while the world is focused on Iran is President Trump’s aim to also topple the government of Cuba, 90 miles off Florida. Since decapitating the government of Venezuela, Trump has been blocking oil shipments to Cuba. The lights are out and food is short.

  “Cuba is going to fall soon,” Trump told CNN’s Dana Bash yesterday. He has ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lead talks with Cuban officials and has floated the idea of a “friendly” takeover of the island. “We cut off all oil, all money, or we cut off everything coming in from Venezuela, which was the sole source. And they want to make a deal,” he said, suggesting that it could happen within weeks.

ECON 101: The US economy is beginning to have trouble. Payrolls dropped by 92,000 in February and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent.

  The economy has had a net loss of jobs in five of the last nine months.

  The price of oil has hit its highest in two years because of the Iran war. Gasoline at the pump is up 30 cents or more in just a week and it’s likely to go higher.

  And also in reaction to the war, the Dow Jones dropped more than 1,000 points this past week as world travel and trade has been interrupted.

THE REGIME: 

— President Trump is expected today to attend at Dover Air Force Base for the transfer of the six bodies of US service members killed in the opening salvo of the Iran war.

— Relatives of Bryon Noem, husband of  fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, told the NY Post that he’s sticking by his wife despite reports of her having an affair because of his religious conviction. The Post reports that, “He said he decided about 20 years ago that it was his calling from God to support her in whatever she decided to do,” one family member said. “So he has put up with the humiliation. We will see if he sticks with her now.”

— Nashville journalist Estefany Rodriguez, who frequently reports on Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, was herself detained by immigration officers. Born in Colombia, Rodriguez is married to an American and has a pending application for a green card. She must be one of the “worst of the worst.”

THE SPIN RACK: At least six people were killed last night in violent tornadoes that tore through the Great Plains and Midwest. The dead were in Michigan and Oklahoma. — Troubled pop star Britney Spears was arrested for driving under the influence this week. The California Highway Patrol in Ventura County, California stopped Spears on Wednesday night after they saw her BMW weaving in and out of traffic. — The 2026 Winter Paralympic Games are under way in Italy.

BELOW THE FOLD:  Spring forward. Daylight Savings time begins at midnight.

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