US Southern Command begins operations in Ecuador – March 3, 2026
As war rages on in the Middle East, Trump’s war on the designated terrorist drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere continues, with the US Southern Command announcing a joint operation with Ecuadorian military forces in Ecuador.
The operations began on Tuesday against narco-terrorists “who have long inflicted terror, violence, and corruption on citizens throughout the hemisphere,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.
US SOUTHCOM also released footage that appeared to tease the operation.
WATCH:
SOUTHCOM said in a statement:
On March 3, Ecuadorian and U.S. military forces launched operations against Designated Terrorist Organizations in Ecuador. The operations are a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism.
Together, we are taking decisive action to confront narco-terrorists who have long inflicted terror, violence, and corruption on citizens throughout the hemisphere.
“We commend the men and women of the Ecuadorian armed forces for their unwavering commitment to this fight, demonstrating courage and resolve through continued actions against narco-terrorists in their country.” – #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan.
This comes as US forces continue drug boat strikes in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific.
US forces conducted several strikes last month on vessels “operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” Southern Command said.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer on Tuesday announced he is calling on seven more people to appear for transcribed interviews, including Bill Gates.
Comer also called in Former Obama White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler to testify on her ties to Epstein.
Ruemmler recently stepped down as Goldman Sachs’ general counsel after her ties to Epstein were revealed in the latest tranche of documents released by the DOJ.
Per Comer:
I’m calling on 7 individuals to appear for transcribed interviews:
Bill Gates
Kathryn Ruemmler
Leon Black
Lesley Groff
Sarah Kellen
Ted Waitt
Doug Band
The Oversight Committee is continuing to seek the truth for survivors & all Americans.
Epstein Investigation Update
I’m calling on 7 individuals to appear for transcribed interviews:
Bill Gates
Kathryn Ruemmler
Leon Black
Lesley Groff
Sarah Kellen
Ted Waitt
Doug Band
The Oversight Committee is continuing to seek the truth for survivors & all Americans.
Over the years, it’s been widely reported that Bill Gates would have associated with Jeffrey Epstein in order to pursue or leverage influence to win a Nobel Prize (often mentioned as the Peace Prize). You can find this reported in the New York Times, Fox News, UK’s The Times, People Magazine, Daily Beast, Associated Press and many other outlets.
It was later reported that Bill Gates had affairs with two Russian women while he was married to Melinda Gates
“Bill Gates this week admitted to having two affairs with Russian women while married to Melinda French Gates and apologized to staff at his charity for his past ties to sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein — while maintaining he was not part of anything “illicit.”
On Monday, the House Oversight Committee released videos of Hillary and Bill Clinton’s Epstein depositions.
In a major victory for conservative voters in Texas, Rep. Dan Crenshaw has been defeated by State Rep. Steve Toth in the Republican primary for Texas’s 2nd Congressional District.
With 58 percent of votes reported as of late Tuesday night, Toth was leading decisively with 57.6 percent to Crenshaw’s 39.2 percent.
President Donald Trump endorsed every other Texas House Republican incumbent running for re-election ahead of the March 3 primary, but deliberately left Crenshaw out.
This made Crenshaw the only Texas GOP House member without Trump’s backing in a competitive race.
BREAKING: Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw LOSES Republican primary to Steve Toth, he will now be UNSEATED come November in District 2
If Toth stays above the 50 percent threshold, which appears likely, he will win the nomination outright and avoid a May runoff.
Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL first elected in 2018, had faced mounting criticism from the right for positions opposed by the MAGA base, including his past opposition to certain vaccine mandate rollbacks and public spats with conservative media figures.
Toth, a longtime state representative from The Woodlands and owner of a local pool company, campaigned as a hard-line conservative and received the endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz.
The district remains solidly Republican, so the GOP nominee is heavily favored to win the general election in November.
Democratic Representative and Texas Senate candidate Jasmine Crockett is already saying her election was rigged as voters are turned away due to confusion at the polls.
You read that right. Crockett, a member of the party that will call you an “election denier” and a “threat to democracy,” is blaming “cheating” is happening in her race.
Crockett previously told supporters not to use Dominion Voting Systems, arguing that Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican election official, had purchased the company and that it couldn’t be trusted.
Because of a new rule that required voters to cast ballots at an assigned precinct, instead of anywhere, Democrats are scrambling and blaming Republicans for throwing “a monkey wrench into the election,” Dallas County’s Democratic chief executive said.
So, Jasmine Crockett claims she’s being cheated because her voters got confused and can’t find their assigned voting precinct. What else can you expect from a Jasmine Crockett voter?
A judge in Dallas County granted an emergency petition extending polling hours until 9 pm in the county, citing “mass confusion” that was “so severe that the Dallas County Election Department website crashed.”
A judge has extended the voting period in Dallas County until 9 p.m. CT, a two-hour extension after confusion among many voters regarding their polling locations. #TXSenpic.twitter.com/OJowgwCJfY
Now, Jasmine Crockett is crying foul play. In a press conference earlier with House candidate Collin Allred, Crockett claimed that she is being cheated, while urging voters to “make sure that you go ahead and figure out where it is that you are supposed to vote.”
WATCH:
We encourage each and every one of you to remain resilient. We cannot allow this type of behavior to be rewarded because so long as they know that they can win, even if it means cheating, then they will continue to do it.
So, I am asking you, I am begging you, to make sure that you go ahead and figure out where it is that you are supposed to vote, stand in line, wait in line.
Crockett, who is counting on high turnout in Dallas, urged voters to stand in line as long as possible and said she’d join them if necessary.
“We should all be standing together, Democrats, Republicans, and we should all be raising hell,” she said at a Dallas news conference alongside former congressman Colin Allred shortly after judge ordered the polls to stay open late. “We cannot allow this type of behavior to be rewarded, because so long as they know they can win, even if it means cheating, they will continue to do it,” Crockett said.
Brenda Allen, the executive director of the Dallas County Democratic Party, told The Washington Post in a call Tuesday that the county party, alongside voting rights advocates, had predicted that the precinct rule would cause confusion. She noted that precinct maps changed earlier this year because of redistricting in the state, so even people who may have been aware of the requirement may have not known what their proper polling spot was.
“Everybody was aware that this would happen just because of the size of our county,” she said. “You have significant changes just from people who just voted in November, so their polling locations may have changed from November. And usually a lot of people can vote countywide, and that’s not the case today.”
The Iranian Regime’s Decades of Terrorism Against American Citizens The following is from the Trump team. For nearly half a century, the Islamic Republic of Iran — the world’s leading … Read more
The Times of Israel also reported that an Iranian ballistic missile hit the US Air Base in Qatar.
An Iranian ballistic missile hit the United States’ military base at Al-Udeid today, Qatar’s Defense Ministry says, as Tehran struck targets across the Gulf in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks.
The ministry says Qatar was targeted by two missiles, adding, “Air defense systems successfully intercepted one of the missiles, while the second missile struck Al-Udeid Qatari Base without causing any casualties.”
U.S. Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper
The United States military has launched one of the largest combat operations in the Middle East in decades, and according to U.S. Central Command leadership, the mission is only just beginning.
In a major operational briefing, U.S. Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper revealed that “Operation Epic Fury” has already unleashed massive American and Israeli firepower against Iran’s military infrastructure just days into the campaign.
The operation, ordered by President Donald Trump and the U.S. Secretary of War, aims to cripple Iran’s ability to threaten American forces, allies, and international shipping after nearly 50 years of Iranian aggression and terrorism.
Speaking just four days into the operation, Cooper said the scale of the deployment is historic.
“More than 50,000 troops, 200 fighters, two aircraft carriers, and bombers from the United States are participating in this operation—and more capabilities are on the way.”
According to CENTCOM, the massive buildup represents the largest U.S. military deployment to the Middle East in a generation.
Cooper compared the opening phase of the campaign to the famous “Shock and Awe” strikes of the 2003 Iraq War, but revealed that the current operation is even larger.
In fact, CENTCOM says the first 24 hours of Operation Epic Fury were nearly double the scale of the initial strikes in Iraq in 2003.
And the attacks have not slowed down.
American and Israeli forces are now conducting 24/7 strikes against Iranian targets across multiple domains, land, sea, air, cyber, and even space-based capabilities.
Less than 100 hours into the campaign, the results are staggering.
According to CENTCOM:
Nearly 2,000 Iranian targets have already been struck
More than 2,000 precision munitions have been deployed
Hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers, and drones have been destroyed
Iranian air defense systems have been severely degraded
Cooper summed up the strategy bluntly:
“In simple terms, we’re focused on shooting all the things that can shoot at us.”
America’s long-range bomber fleet has played a central role in the operation.
CENTCOM confirmed that B-2 stealth bombers and B-1 strategic bombers have carried out uncontested surgical strikes deep inside Iran, targeting missile production sites and launch facilities.
These strikes are part of a broader effort to destroy Iran’s missile belt and eliminate the regime’s ability to launch attacks on U.S. forces or allies.
According to Cooper, U.S. forces are actively dismantling Iran’s fleet.
So far:
17 Iranian naval vessels have been destroyed
Including Iran’s most operational submarine, which was heavily damaged and left with “a hole in its side.”
For decades, Iran has harassed international shipping and threatened the global energy supply through the Strait of Hormuz.
But according to CENTCOM, that threat has now been neutralized.
“Today there’s not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman,” Cooper said.
CENTCOM reports that the Iranian regime has already fired:
More than 500 ballistic missiles
Over 2,000 drones
Many of these attacks have been directed toward civilian areas.
“Iran is indiscriminately targeting civilians,” Cooper said. “The evidence is crystal clear and overwhelming.”
However, CENTCOM says the Iranian response is weakening as their missile infrastructure is dismantled.
“Iran’s ability to hit us and our partners is declining, while our combat power is building.”
According to CENTCOM, the skies over Iran are now controlled by the two most powerful air forces in the world: the United States and Israel.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Army made history by using Precision Strike Missiles (PRISMs) in combat for the first time, delivering long-range deep strikes against Iranian targets.
Another surprising development involves Task Force Scorpion Strike, a special CENTCOM drone unit.
The task force deployed large numbers of one-way attack drones that delivered devastating strikes.
In an ironic twist, many of the drones were originally based on Iranian designs.
“We took them back to America, made them better, and fired them right back at Iran,” Cooper said.
Admiral Cooper’s message to the world was clear: The U.S. military is operating with “relentless lethality” and “conviction.” The mission to eliminate Iran’s ability to threaten Americans is ahead of schedule, and as the Admiral put it: “We’ve just begun.”
The Soros-backed Travis County, Texas, District Attorney is now walking back his post-George Floyd-era policy, which opened the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a terrorist on Sunday to a secret grand jury investigation.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, an Islamic Senegalese man, who obtained citizenship during Obama’s presidency, was shot dead by police after he opened fire on a bar in Austin, Texas, killing two and wounding 14.
Police reportedly also found a Quran in his car, and he was wearing a hoodie that said “Property of Allah” and a shirt that had Iranian representations on it.
The officers who stopped the attack were expected to face an investigation into potential misconduct due to the policy implemented by the Soros-backed DA.
Per the Texas Tribune, “Every shooting involving a police officer in Travis County for the past several years has gone before a grand jury — a policy that District Attorney José Garza has said ensures transparency.”
However, in a statement, Travis County District Attorney José Garza decried “false statements” by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, writing, “it should go without saying that my office is not seeking any charges and would not seek charges.” He further claimed that Republicans in Texas are using the lives lost in the shooting “to score political points.”
Texas State Representative Mitch Little had said in an X post on Monday, “I’m looking forward to hearing more about the [Austin Police] officers who heroically stopped the terrorist. We should be honoring them as a state, and they shouldn’t be going out wondering if they’re going to be indicted for doing their jobs. We need a cultural reset.”
And Texas attorney Doug O’Connell then revealed that the Austin Police Association had already asked his firm, O’Connell West, to represent the officers. O’Connell said in a comment, “Unfortunately they will face a Grand Jury hearing – as is the process directed to the Travis County DA by the Wren Collective. We will be with them every step of the way. Rep Little I’d be happy to visit with you about Grand Jury reform!”
The Austin Police Association @ATXPOA has asked my team to represent the 3 heroes that took down the terrorist killer who attacked our community. Unfortunately they will face a Grand Jury hearing – as is the process directed to the Travis County DA by the Wren Collective. We will…
“The district attorney, at the direction of the Wren Collective, insists on presenting every officer involved shooting to a grand jury,’’ O’Connell told The New York Post. “We believe that our clients will face this same process.”
“Garza instituted the requirement when he took office in 2021 — just a few months after Floyd’s killing at the hands of a Minnesota cop roiled the nation and sparked drastic changes in scores of police departments across the US,” the New York Post reports.
On Tuesday, Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock said on X, “the DA seems to still intend to put this before a grand jury where anything can happen as the DA controls that process and doesn’t allow APD involvement,” while noting that the case had not yet been referred to the DA. “This is an extraordinary case and I believe sufficient information is already out there to show grand jury isn’t necessary. There’s no need to subject these officers to that especially since it’s taking the DA over a year in almost every case to present these to the grand jury,” he added.
Governor Abbott also responded,
These police officers are heroes who saved lives.
Whatever the DA does, I will have the final say in the fate of these police officers.
These police officers are heroes who saved lives.
Whatever the DA does, I will have the final say in the fate of these police officers. https://t.co/tixPCVWwOY
The mounting public pressure and obvious negative publicity surrounding the policy led Garza to respond and deny that he would ever consider such a thing.
Travis County District Attorney José Garza’s Response to the False Statements from the Texas Governor
Travis County, TX — Today, Travis County District Attorney José Garza released the following statement in response to the Texas Governor’s online comments.
“These officers are heroes, and it should go without saying that my office is not seeking any charges and would not seek charges. The accounts to the contrary are false, intentionally false, and are being peddled for obvious political purposes.
We are proud to work with our partners at the Austin Police Department every day and are so grateful for the bravery that these officers showed.
We also grieve with our community members who lost loved ones during this horrendous act of violence and are disgusted by the leaders in Texas using their deaths to score political points.”
A new report suggests the United States may be preparing to escalate pressure on the Iranian regime from within its own borders.
According to multiple sources familiar with the discussions, the CIA is exploring a plan to arm Kurdish opposition fighters operating along the Iraq–Iran border in an effort to spark a popular uprising inside Iran and further destabilize the regime in Tehran.
The discussions, first reported by CNN, indicate that the Trump administration has been actively communicating with Iranian opposition groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq about providing military assistance as the conflict with Iran intensifies.
If implemented, the plan could open an entirely new front against the Iranian regime, one driven not just by air strikes and military pressure from outside the country, but by insurgent forces inside Iran itself.
Iranian Kurdish armed groups already maintain thousands of fighters operating near the Iraq–Iran border, primarily in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Several of these groups have issued statements in recent days hinting that major action could be imminent.
Some Kurdish leaders have also publicly urged members of the Iranian military to defect as pressure mounts against the ruling clerical regime.
Tehran is clearly taking the threat seriously.
According to CNN, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly launched drone strikes Tuesday targeting Kurdish opposition forces, deploying dozens of drones against suspected militant positions.
The attacks suggest the Iranian regime fears Kurdish militias could play a major role if unrest erupts inside the country.
The report also reveals that President Donald Trump personally spoke Tuesday with Mustafa Hijri, the president of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), according to a senior Iranian Kurdish official.
KDPI is one of the Kurdish opposition groups targeted by recent Iranian strikes.
Sources say Kurdish opposition forces are preparing to take part in a potential ground operation in western Iran in the coming days.
Two US officials and a third source also confirmed that Trump called Iraqi Kurdish leaders on Sunday to discuss how the U.S. and the Kurds can work together as the mission progresses.
The plan is reportedly as strategic as it is bold:
Pin Down the IRGC: Kurdish armed forces will engage Iranian security forces, pinning them down on the borders.
Empower the People: By tying up the regime’s military, unarmed Iranians in major cities can finally take to the streets without facing the same massacres they endured in previous years.
Create a Buffer Zone: Strategic thinkers believe the Kurds could take and hold territory in northern Iran, creating a vital buffer zone for our allies in Israel.
WATCH:
One user on X highlighted what they described as the troubling implications of the reported plan, pointing to the historical record of CIA-backed insurgencies and warning that the move could signal a far longer conflict ahead.
The CIA arming Kurdish insurgents is the clearest signal yet that the air campaign isn’t working as planned.
Historical track record of CIA-backed insurgencies:
• Afghanistan 1979-89: Armed the Mujahideen. They won. Then became Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Cost of cleanup: $2.3 TRILLION over 20 years
• Syria 2012-17: Armed “moderate rebels.” Weapons ended up with ISIS and Al-Nusra. Created a failed state and refugee crisis that destabilized European politics for a decade
• Libya 2011: Armed rebels to overthrow Gaddafi. Country has had zero functioning government since. Became a weapons bazaar that armed conflicts across Africa
• Iraq 1990s: Armed Kurdish groups against Saddam. Then abandoned them. Twice.
The Kurdish angle has an additional problem: Turkey. Ankara considers Kurdish armed groups (PKK/YPG) existential threats. Arming Iranian Kurds risks:
1. Weapons flowing to PKK (which the US designates as a terrorist org)
2. Turkey blocking NATO cooperation
3. Erdogan pivoting toward Iran/Russia
Market signal: when the CIA starts arming proxy forces, it means planners expect a LONG conflict. Air campaigns end in weeks. Insurgencies last years.
The CIA arming Kurdish insurgents is the clearest signal yet that the air campaign isn’t working as planned.
Historical track record of CIA-backed insurgencies:
• Afghanistan 1979-89: Armed the Mujahideen. They won. Then became Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Cost of cleanup: $2.3…
Russian mogul Umar Dzhabrailov – Imagens Wiki Commons and DOJ
A trail of suicides in Epstein’s wake.
Another suicide of a character associated to the Jeffrey Epstein trafficking ring has been reported, this time in a luxurious Moscow apartment.
The Epstein saga has an inordinate number of suicides: the late pedophile is said to have killed himself in Manhattan’s MCC prison, as was his co-conspirator Jean-Luc Brunel in a jail cell in La Santé, Paris; the main victim-accuser, Virginia Giuffre, was also said to have killed herself in her ranch in Australia, after a suspicious car accident.
We can’t forget Mark Middleton, the Bill Clinton advisor who facilitated Epstein’s White House visits, and who was found in Arkansas, hanging from a tree by an extension cord around his neck, and with a ‘self-inflicted’ shotgun wound to the chest.
Clear suicide, right? That’s what the authorities said.
Yesterday (3), news arose of a Russian mogul (or Magnat) who called convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell his ‘soulmate’, and was found dead in a luxury Moscow apartment.
The suspected suicide comes just weeks after his name surfaced in the DOJ-released Jeffrey Epstein files.
NEW – Russian mogul Umar Dzhabrailov, who called Ghislaine Maxwell his “soulmate” found dead in luxury Moscow apartment, just weeks after his name surfaced in the Epstein files — NYP pic.twitter.com/lwclZoO7sW
“Umar Dzhabrailov, a Chechen businessman and former senator, was discovered lying in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to his head at about 3 a.m., Russian outlet Kommersant reported, citing police sources who called it a suspected suicide.
Police discovered a Luger pistol lying by the 67-year-old’s body. But Dzhabrailov — who had tried to take his life in 2020 — didn’t leave a suicide note, the sources said.”
BREAKING:
Russian mogul Umar Dzhabrailov, who once called Ghislaine Maxwell his “soulmate” and appeared in the latest Epstein docs, was found dead in his luxury Moscow apartment.
Gunshot to the head, Luger pistol nearby, cops calling it suicide.
Emails show him trying to meet Ghislaine Maxwell in Moscow back in 2001.
“’Dear Ghislaine, I’m back from London, planing 2 B in Moscow. Really want 2 C U, but I need 2 know exactly when U arive, cause I want 2 take care of U and arrange welcoming things. Wishing U all the best! Umar’, read the email, dated May 24.
Maxwell responded the following day, writing: ‘Umar, sorry that we did not come last week. Got side tracked and ended up in France. However we Jeffrey Tom and I are coming next week arriving Fri. Will you be around and can we get together? Let me know. Hope you are well. Ghislaine’.”
Two stories I cover just intersected and it’s worth pointing out.
Umar Dzhabrailov (Russian billionaire, politician, and man who called Ghislaine Maxwell his “soulmate”) was found in a pool of blood in Moscow yesterday (reported suicide).
Epstein Investigation Update
