Yesterday, March 19th, marks 23 years since the United States invaded Iraq under the

banner of shock and awe.

That devastating war was sold on lies, cost trillions of dollars, killed over a million Iraqis,

and left the country shattered.

Today, the United States is three weeks into a new war in the Middle East called Operation Epic Fury and is using the same playbook, the same kind of lies.

The Pentagon has now asked the White House to approve a $200 billion funding request to Congress,

and more than 1,400 people have been killed in Iran, including over 200 children.

The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed.

Countries across Asia are rationing fuel, canceling thousands of flights, and closing schools to conserve energy.

Donald Trump told a rally crowd that the war had already been won in the first hour of its beginning,

but today with the casualty numbers rising and the numbers of displaced now reaching over a million,

there is no plan for when or how this war will end.

We need a new system.

We need a new society.

We need to demand that which may have sounded impossible even a few weeks ago, but is not

only realizable, but an imperative necessity. I'm Leanne Zima Fullahan here with Brian Becker, and this is in the news, a segment of the Socialist program, a patron's only episode.

Before we get started, I want to thank all of our patrons for keeping the show on the air.

We could not do it without your support.

If you are not yet a patron, you can become one today at patreon.com forward slash the socialist

program.

We can't do the show without you. We can only do it with you.

So thousands of Iranians are dead. Many more are wounded. Many are homeless. Hundreds of U.S.

...