Good morning. It is Sunday, March the 15th. At least 13 U.S. troops have been killed and 140 have been injured as the U.S. led war 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.

Major John Kinner, 33 of Auburn, Alabama. Captain Ariana Savino, 31 of Covington, Washington.

Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, 34 of Bardstown, Kentucky. Captain Seth Kovall, 38 of Moorsville,

Indiana, Captain Curtis Angst, 30 of Wilmington, Ohio,

and Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons, 28 of Columbus, Ohio. Now, turning to another theater of this

war, the Strait of Hormuz, a 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. It sent oil prices skyrocketing and largely halted oil production

in the Gulf. And 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, end quote.

He called on China, an adversary, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom

to essentially overwhelm Iran's ability to fire at those tankers,

as if to say they're not going to shoot at all of us.

Now, if this plan sounds a bit improvisional, it might 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 suddenly stranded in the region.

Let's start with the Strait of Hormuz, which has proved to be Iran's strongest point of leverage.

New reporting from the Wall Street Journal reveals the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

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