The Hound | Mar. 20

Hi there,

It’s Friday. Workers in Colorado have shut down one of the nation’s largest meatpacking plants over stalled wage negotiations and poor working conditions. The Trump administration is probing 13 states that require state-regulated health insurance plans to cover abortion care. And the Iran War continued to spiral out of control this week with Israel and Iran striking oil and energy infrastructure across the region.

The United States did not drift into conflict with Iran—it was pushed there through deliberate escalation by the Trump administration. From early military buildups to direct strikes on Iranian targets, including major bombing operations, the administration chose confrontation over diplomacy at multiple junctures. Experts and reporting have made clear that these actions increased the risk of retaliation, regional instability, and global economic disruption rather than resolving underlying tensions. By framing escalation as standard foreign policy, coverage obscures the administration’s agency in creating the crisis and downplays the lack of clear objectives or an exit strategy.

🖊️ Add your name to call on major news organizations to cover the Iran war plainly as an unnecessary escalation driven by policy choices—not as an unavoidable conflict. Journalists must examine the decisions that led to war, question the absence of clear justification, and explain the human and economic consequences of escalation.

The public deserves reporting that assigns responsibility and tells the full story of how this war began.

Read about this, and more, with today’s stories:

Ol’ Donny Trump Has Really Stepped in It This Time (The American Prospect)

Pete Hegseth’s Christian rhetoric draws renewed scrutiny after the US goes to war with Iran (AP News)

Israel launches more strikes on Tehran as Iran continues attacks on Gulf oil facilities (NPR)

“Liberate Their Bodies From Their Souls”: The Lies That Sell the Iran War (The Intercept)

Workers in Colorado Have Shut Down One of the Nation’s Biggest Meatpacking Plants (Mother Jones)

DOGE Goes Nuclear: How Trump Invited Silicon Valley Into America’s Nuclear Power Regulator (ProPublica)

Trump administration probes states that mandate health insurance coverage for abortion (PBS)

ICE Has Abruptly Deported Thousands of Kids. Their Families Say It Traumatized Them. (The Marshall Project)

Until next time,

Harry from The Hound

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