Top 5 US news stories
March 5 2026
U.S.-Israeli Strikes Cripple Iran's Missile and Naval Forces by Day Five of War
War Powers Resolution Fails as Senate Republicans Back Trump's Iran Campaign
U.S. Submarine Sinks Iranian Frigate With Torpedo in First Such Attack Since World War II
CIA-Backed Kurdish Forces Prepare Potential New Front Along Iran-Iraq Border
China Sets Lowest Growth Target in Decades as Xi Pivots to Tech and Military Buildup
U.S.-Israeli Strikes Cripple Iran's Missile and Naval Forces by Day Five of War
By day five of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, U.S. Central Command said the combined force has significantly degraded Tehran's retaliatory capacity, reporting that Iranian ballistic missile fire rates have fallen 86 percent and drone fire has dropped 73 percent since the war began. CENTCOM said the coalition has destroyed approximately 300 missile launchers and sunk 17 Iranian naval vessels, leaving no Iranian ships underway in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman, though the IRGC Navy retains the ability to harass maritime traffic. Prior strikes against Iranian air defense systems have enabled the combined force to establish air superiority, a development underscored by the subsequent deployment of B-52 strategic bombers for strikes deeper into Iran. Gen. Dan Caine described plans to push operations further inland now that the air defense shield has been neutralized.
X (Nicholas Carl)
War Powers Resolution Fails as Senate Republicans Back Trump's Iran Campaign
The Senate voted 53–47 on Wednesday against advancing a resolution that would have required President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran absent a congressional declaration of war or authorization of military force. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.), failed largely along party lines, with Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania joining Republicans in opposition and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky casting the sole GOP vote in favor. The result leaves current executive authority over the Iran campaign unchanged.
WSJ
U.S. Submarine Sinks Iranian Frigate With Torpedo in First Such Attack Since World War II
A U.S. Navy submarine sank the Iranian frigate Iris Dena with a single torpedo in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka on Wednesday, marking the first time since World War II that an American submarine has struck a vessel in combat with a torpedo. The Pentagon released video showing the torpedo detonating under the frigate's stern, sending a massive plume of water skyward as the hull tore apart along the port quarter above the waterline. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the sinking "quiet death," while Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the torpedo as achieving "immediate effect." Sri Lankan officials said they rescued 32 Iranian sailors from the Iris Dena, which is believed to have carried a crew of 180.
NYT
Periscope footage of a US Navy Submarine torpedoing the Iranian Frigate Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka.
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 4, 2026
The Mk. 48 Torpedo’s 650 pound warhead can be seen detonating under the Iranian Frigate’s stern. pic.twitter.com/DypnxA1Whd
CIA-Backed Kurdish Forces Prepare Potential New Front Along Iran-Iraq Border
Pro-American Iranian Kurdish forces based in Iraq are preparing armed units that could enter Iran, potentially opening a new ground front in the expanding conflict, according to Iraqi officials and senior members of the Kurdish groups. The CIA has previously provided small arms to these forces as part of a covert program to destabilize Iran that predated the current war, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said reports that President Trump approved a Kurdish insurgency plan were "completely false." The U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, now in its fifth day, has killed Iran's supreme leader and other top officials while targeting government and security facilities across the country, including along the Iran-Iraq border. American officials are debating the utility of a Kurdish incursion as fighting intensifies, a development that matters because a ground insurgency could fragment Iran's remaining defensive posture, complicate any future ceasefire negotiations, and risk drawing Iraq more directly into the conflict.
NYT
China Sets Lowest Growth Target in Decades as Xi Pivots to Tech and Military Buildup
China set a GDP growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent for 2026, its lowest since at least the 1990s, signaling a new era of slower expansion for the world's second-largest economy after three years of targeting "around 5%" growth. Alongside the downshift, President Xi Jinping unveiled an ambitious five-year plan centered on dominating artificial intelligence, quantum computing, bio-manufacturing, hydrogen and fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, and 6G mobile networks, reflecting his view that competition with the United States will be decided by technological innovation. The government also announced a 7 percent increase in military spending, bringing the outlay to approximately $277 billion — about one-third of the Trump administration's proposed military spending for fiscal year 2026. Xi has indicated that long-term strategic advantage depends less on raw spending and more on China's ability to lead industries of the future, with the term "artificial intelligence" cited more than 50 times in the new plan.
WSJ / NYT
March 5 1770: The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre intensified colonial resentment toward British rule, helping transform scattered grievances over taxation and occupation into a broad, emotionally charged resistance movement. Its victims were memorialized as martyrs, and the event’s powerful propaganda legacy—especially Paul Revere’s engraving—cemented it in American memory as a key spark on the road to revolution.
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Sources
- Nicholas Carl on X — Iran War Day 5 Update
- WSJ — Senate War Powers Resolution
- NYT — Submarine Torpedo Sinks Iran Ship
- NYT — Kurds, Trump, and Iran War
- WSJ — China Signals Slower Economic Growth
- NYT — China Technology, Trade, and Military
