Beltway Insider: Trump/Iran War, School Strike, Israel Widens War, Oil, Gas Prices, Alexander Brothers Guilty

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Saturday, 14 March 2026 16:57

Written by Janet Walker

President Trump, even in the wake of revelations of responsibility in the Iranian school bombing and loss of American lives, remains committed to a complete dismantling of the Iranian regime until its military is destroyed and leadership surrenders.

The President's job approval rating, according to the Ipsos poll featured in The New York Times for the period ending March 14, 2026, of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President increased by three percentage point to 39% and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president decreased by three percentage point to 60%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

Beltway Insider: Trump/Iran War, Russia Aids Iran, Oil Supply Chain, Neom Out, King Charles III, GA Shooting

U.S. Responsible for School Strike

The responsibility for the drone strike on a girl's school in the center of Iran that killed more than 175 students, has been determined to caused by a U.S. airstrike, which hit the same target with three successive bombs.

The United States is not a barbaric nation and should not lower itself to engaging in a free for all war, because the enemy fights without concern for human life. Initiating the war on Iran was a necessary action to counter the human rights abuses and the escalation of the building of Iranian nuclear arms, and now the United States is responsible for the murder of innocent school age children.

The United States is supposed to pride themselves on its ability to engage in 21^st century warfare, which should include adherence to the Rules of Engagement and not a blatant and whole-hearted disregard of them.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has made his position unreservedly clear; there will be no adherence to the rules of engagement. The intent is to dismantle, destroy, and annihilate the Iranian regime. Unfortunately, the son of the murdered Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has issued a harsh retaliatory statement vowing to "avenge the blood of its martyrs" specifically referring to the death of the school children. The determination of these people to avenge will result in a long term jihad essentially against the partners of Israel, which includes the U.S.

Hegseth who boasted of a bombing free for all, murdered 170 children in school, primarily girls, not for the engagement of warfare but to strike the heart of the Iranian people, by barbarism. Partnering with Israel did not mean adopting its policies of air strikes against the innocent.

World News: Iranian War Highlights Defense Department Weaknesses

Unconfirmed Targets, AI Failures, and Mechanical Failures

"The attack has drawn international condemnation and is raising questions as to how the school ended up being struck — and whether the United States and Israel's use of AI in this conflict had a role. Both countries have leveraged the technology to mass process intelligence and identify potential targets, enabling their militaries to destroy thousands of sites in just days of the ongoing operations," reported The Washington Post.

With a defense budget in the billions why is the United States losing soldiers to mechanical failure? Losing eleven soldiers creates an image of incompetence, of a military untrained for actual warfare. The use of unmanned drone warfare should lessen the causalities and still in two weeks thirteen soldiers have died.

Israel Bombs Beirut, Widens War

Israel's partnership with the United States has strengthened its resolve to finally root out both Hezbollah and Hamas, the two terror organizations that have each waged joint and independent campaigns against the Israeli people.

Hamas, which was largely financed by Lebanon's Hezbollah terror organization, was responsible for the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The retaliation ended costing more than 70,000 Palestinian lives, mostly innocent women and children and a complete annihilation of the Gaza Strip.

As Hamas attempts to regroup, aided by Hezbollah, the subsequent destruction and death caused by the October 7, attacks has no weight or bearing on the terror organization future decisions. They are blinded by the hatred of Israel, and any continued loss of life is considered martyrdom.

The decision by Lebanon to join the ever widening Middle East war, is in response to the death of the Ayatollah name, and a determination to subdue Israel. It is also not uncommon for Lebanon to fire rockets toward Israel's northern region, which it has long before the start of this war. More often than not, Israel refused to retaliate. That was before the October 7, 2023 attack.

Much has changed. Currently with the United States managing the attacks on Iran, Israel has the opportunity to direct its IDF forces to Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Lebanon military has expected this and now the two are intermittently firing upon the other.

"Despite Hezbollah firing over 200 rockets overnight (compared to at most 100 per day until now during this conflict) and an increased pace in drone attacks, the IDF still views Iran as the central theater of the current multifront war, with Lebanon being a secondary front mainly to prevent any attacks from Hezbollah and to keep the terror group on its back feet," reported The Jerusalem Post.

Media reports that Israel has chosen to widen the war and attack major Lebanese cities, firing indiscriminately in well populated areas.

Even as Lebanon quickly reached out to global partners in hopes of calming and escalating situation, Israel has refused to agree to any cease fire terms.

World News: The Dominoes of Mesopotamia

A Lingering War – and the Trickledown Effect

It isn't that the Trump Administration weren't prepared for Iran's usual play of holding the Strait of Hormuz hostage, as that is its standard operating procedure.

The Strait of Hormuz is a vital shipping lane for all oil products coming out of the Middle East, if it is blocked, closed, or if shipping is in any way disrupted the citizen of the United States will pay the price, with crude oil prices spiking.

From the onset the Administration front facing position was this will not be a long and drawn out war. It is will quick and an opportunity for the United States to flex its global power.

While the administration has displayed an inclination to move quickly, history tells a different story. The United States remained in Beirut for 18 months, from August 1982 to February 26, 1984, as part of a Multinational Peacekeeping Force, to stabilize the region after an Israeli invasion.

While two weeks is not considered lengthy, in the oil business two weeks results in months long backlog, with no crude oil passing through the region. The Iranian military, who engage in warfare in far more dangerous ways that traditional warfare, seems to have answered the threat with a determined effort to use the tools at its disposal, and that of course is disrupting the shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Gasoline Prices

Petroleum expert Patrick De Haan issues and ominous warning on his Fuel Insights, Substack as he compared war and how eerily similar the price at the pump jumps.

"While prices have climbed steadily over the past month, the speed of the increase closely resembles the price shock seen after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In the first 12 days following Russia's invasion, the national average price of gasoline surged roughly 75 cents per gallon. During the first 12 days of the current U.S.–Iran escalation, prices have jumped about 70 cents per gallon—a nearly identical pace," De Hann wrote.

Last week alone, the highest increase at the gasoline pumps in the nation was New Mexico at 0.45 cent to $3.73 per gallon. Californians saw a 0.35 cent jump in pump prices to an average of $5.47 per gallon, the highest in the nation, which means that since the war began, two weeks ago prices at the pump have risen over $1.00 everywhere.

World News: Iran is in Crisis, 12K Protestors Killed, Government is Falling

Coronavirus Total

At the order of the President of the United States, the U.S. no longer recognizes the value of The World Health Organization. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually.  The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from each new variants.

For the 7 days ending March 14, 2026, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 3,618 to 779,145,932. The total worldwide death toll increased by 460 to 7,112,352 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated February 22, 2026, from the World Health Organization).

Crime: The History of DNA and Its Introduction in Crime Solving

Alexander Brothers Found Guilty

Three brothers, from a wealthy Manhattan family, have been found guilty on each of the ten counts they faced after prosecutors in Federal District court presented evidence against them proving for years they raped and sexually assaulted scores of women, plying them with alcohol and GHB, shuttling them to their secluded homes in the Hamptons or Miami, and taping the assaults for trophies.

"They used a consistent playbook to lure, isolate and rape their victims," a prosecutor, Andrew Jones, said in a closing argument, "and not only did they commit these crimes without remorse, they did it with callousness, with a perverse sense of pride," The New York Times reported.

The Alexander Brothers are the tip of the iceberg in Manhattan and the surrounding Tri-State area, where special privileges, include rape and sexual assault without fear or concern, of prosecution, are afforded to the elite.

Rape Prosecutions of the Elite Are Rare

In some cases, the evidence simply disappears, as prosecutors either are so burnt out or overwhelmed they don't care or they allow the crimes to go unpunished for other reasons. Possibly as the once protected elite are increasing facing justice for their past actions, there is hope that the long arm of the law will finally prevail and justice for all with become the

Prosecutors are bound by ethical rules to seek justice, which means ensuring a fair trial, not just winning. Even as they are not generally mandated to prosecute every case brought to them, even if there is sufficient evidence. Instead, they possess broad prosecutorial discretion, allowing them to decide whether to bring charges, what charges to bring, and whether to dismiss cases or pursue alternative resolutions.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Longtime Companion of Jeffrey Epstein, Found Guilty

It is horrifying that prosecutors base their decisions to prosecute on the profession of the preparator, The broad discretion allows prosecutors to develop a payola system including barter that creates long term gifts for turning their back on their duties.

Prosecutorial misconduct, such as hiding evidence, coercing witnesses, or bringing cases in bad faith, is considered a violation of a prosecutor's oath of office, which demands upholding the law and pursuing justice, not just convictions.

While some cases of serious misconduct occur, prosecutors often face significant barriers to accountability, including "absolute immunity" from lawsuits for actions taken during their role. The absolute immunity protection aids a payola opportunity and keeps the rapists on the streets while the victims suffer alone.

New Jersey Prosecutors Coddle the Criminal

In 2002, the Hudson County, NJ prosecutors office failed to bring charges when a rape case was brought to them, instead dropping the victim and refusing her all assistance, hoping injustice would force a dark end, and she would commit suicide.

The victim, who rented the loft of a townhome with two other lower floor female roommates, was drugged, and repeatedly raped and sold by the homeowner who arranged the sexual violence in a bizarre plot to increase violence, injury, injustice, mental anguish, and financial desperation, for the purpose of forcing suicide. Even the trophy rapists, with a perverse send of pride and accomplishment, still boast and brag about raping the Christian receptionist, believing the violence and abuse would lead to only one conclusion.

Unlike the civil lawyers who created a feeding frenzy for the victims of the Alexander Brothers, the New Jersey victim has been repeatedly turned down for representation. Those responsible aided the perpetrators by refusing to bring charges and stopping the victim from receiving any assistance.

But hey, it's New Jersey, does anyone expect justice?

Robert Durst, NY Real Estate Heir, Found Guilty of Murder

For more information on President Donald Trump: Whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five award-winning screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," a non-fiction narrative, "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," and "Songs of Freedom: A Collection of Biblical Teachings," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Authors Guild, the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.