It is Sunday, March 15th, at least 13 U.S. troops have been killed and 140 have been

injured as the U.S. led war of choice with Iran enters its third week. The Pentagon has released

the identities of the six U.S. service members who died in a plane crash over Iraq, they are

Major John Clinner, 33 of Alabama, Captain Arianna Savino, 31 of Washington,

Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, 34 of Kentucky, Captain Seth Koval, 38 of Indiana, Captain Curtis

Angst, 30, of Ohio, and Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons, 28 of Ohio.

Turning to another theater of this war, the Strait of Hormuz, that narrow, shallow waterway

through which one-fifth of the world's oil passes, it's been effectively closed to U.S. and

allied tankers by Iran. More than a dozen oil tankers have been hit by Iranian strikes,

scaring off most

other ships from attempting to pass through, and it said oil prices skyrocketing and largely

halted oil production in the Gulf. President Trump on Saturday suggested, quote,

many countries will be sending warships in conjunction with the United States of America

to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and safe. He called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom to essentially overwhelm Iran's ability to fire at tankers, as if to say, they're not going to shoot at all of us. Now, if this plan sounds a bit improvisational, it may be because it is. Reporting from a variety of sources paints a picture of a ramshackle war planning effort by the Trump administration,

from the economic devastation in the Strait of Hormuz to the unsurprising resiliency of the Iranian regime,

to the thousands of unwitting expatriate workers who were suddenly stranded in the region.

The Strait of Hormuz was always going to be an issue.

New reporting from the Wall Street Journal reveals that the

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kane, said, quote, in several briefings,

the U.S. officials had long believed Iran would deploy missiles, drones, and mines missiles and drones

to close the world's most vital shipping lane, according to people with knowledge of the discussions,

end quote. But the sources told the journal that Trump, quote, told his team that Tehran would likely capitulate

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