The Lead
World Dialogue for True Security Is Urgent: Week Three of U.S.-Israel War Features Madness Over the Strait of Hormuz
by Marcia Merry Baker (EIRNS) — Mar. 14, 2026
At a Pentagon briefing March 13, marking the end of two weeks of U.S.-Israel warfare against Iran, a triumphalist report was given by Pete Hegseth, U.S. Defense Secretary, self-styled “Secretary of War,” and Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Hegseth summed up, “We said it would not be a fair fight and it has not been. As I stated during our first press conference on day two—that was 10 short days ago—the combination of the world’s two most powerful air forces is unprecedented and unbeatable. Between our Air Force and that of the Israelis, over 15,000 enemy targets have been struck. That’s well over 1,000 a day. No other combination of countries in the world can do that.”
However, even this glory-in-death-and destruction was exceeded by White House madness over the past 24 hours, involving U.S. operations targeting the Persian Gulf. Late yesterday, the U.S. bombed military sites on Kharg Island, the location in the upper Gulf where 90% of Iran’s oil-related infrastructure is located. President Trump last night issued an ultimatum to Iran: If you obstruct shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. will obliterate your Kharg Island oil infrastructure.
Then this morning, Trump declared to the world on TruthSocial, “Many Countries … will be sending War ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe…. Hopefully” he said, “China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and other countries” will do so. “In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water.” The goal, “One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”
Backing this up, a score of media reports that new U.S. forces are on their way to the Persian Gulf, including amphibious assault ships and Marine beach-landing personnel. The USS Tripoli, accommodating 2,500 Marines is proceeding from the Philippines Sea, in a group that includes at least two more ships and more soldiers, for a total of 5,000.
Clearly dangerous as this escalation may be, the more fearful part is the uniform insanity in and around President Donald Trump. It is reliably reported that no one ever raises a “negative” view or questioning idea to the President. Trump is operating entirely inside the domain of his own positions and thoughts. Crazed ideas reverberate throughout his Cabinet and staff. For example, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent parroted to reporters March 12, “There’s the chance that the U.S. Navy or perhaps an international coalition will be escorting oil tankers through” the Strait. Never mind that Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said the same day that the waterway would remain closed under the U.S. and Israel’s assault. The stage is set for unimaginable clashes and consequences.
This situation—including the White House madness—requires the active intervention of citizens and competent leaders the world over. The circulation is important of the open letter to Pope Leo XIV appealing for his initiative with other world spiritual leaders of all faiths, issued March 9 by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, leader of the Schiller Institute. In the same vein, China’s state newspaper Global Times ran an editorial today pointing to President Xi Jinping’s “Global Security Initiative” as a “reference” approach for the world emergency.
The international Peace Coalition is a ready platform for needed dialogue for a new security framework. A press release is forthcoming, with links to archived video, focusing on the exchange at its 145th weekly meeting on March 13, among leaders from Iran, Germany, and the Global South. The text states that, before “a live audience of some 600 participants from 35 nations … the panelists included H.E. Abolfazl Pasandideh, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mexico; Father Harry J. Bury, a renowned Catholic priest for 70 years and lifelong peace activist and member of the U.S. Catholic Priest Association; Jack Gilroy, of Veterans for Peace and Pax Christi International; H.E. Donald Ramotar, former President of Guyana (2011-2015); and Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the founder of the Schiller Institute.
“Their dialogue constitutes a call to all nations represented in the United Nations and all organizations devoted to the preservation of peace, to immediately put on the agenda the need for a new international security and development architecture to replace the deadly system of geopolitics—or we shall face the likelihood of our self-destruction.”
Contents
Strategic War Danger
- Marine Unit Ordered to Southwest Asia; Trump Calls on Nations to Partner with Warships (↓)
- Pete Hegseth Gives Triumphalist Pentagon Briefing (↓)
- U.S. Federation of Atomic Scientists on the U.S. Nuclear War Stance against Russia, China, North Korea, Iran (↓)
- More on Lies About Iran Having a Nuclear Weapons Program (↓)
New World Paradigm
Collapsing Imperial System
- A 'War That Is Not Our Own' Threatens Turmoil in Global South Nations (↓)
- Iran War Causing Substantial Loss of Revenue for Gulf Oil States (↓)
U.S. and Canada
- Lula Forces Showdown over U.S. State Department Interference in Brazil's Elections (↓)
- White House Meme-ifies and Game-ifies War (↓)
