Iran retaliated by launching missiles at Jordan, raising the specter of still more fighting.
Page A4From§Eachthe late evening edition — 8 September 2026
Ambassador calls war that just destroyed its eighth tanker and spread missiles to Jordan a savings plan.
As it ran on the front
I want to walk through this in order, the way I'd defend it from a podium, and correct myself only where the numbers force it.
Start with the promise: a quick war. That was the sell seven months ago. Seven months in, my job today is still to describe destroyed oil tankers as an economy measure.…
…(cont) Saturday, September 5th: CENTCOM says U.S. forces permanently disabled three Iranian crude carriers near Kharg Island and in the Gulf, after what the command called multiple unprovoked Iranian missile launches at two Navy warships. CENTCOM said no personnel were injured. Three tankers. Sounds like a rounding error. It isn't — three ships, permanently disabled. Let me not call it a rounding error.
Then Tuesday, September 8th — three days later, not overnight, three full days — CENTCOM goes back out and destroys five more: the Kaviz, the Charminar, the Horizon 1, the Riesco, and a fifth. Eight tankers in a week, because, per CENTCOM, the IRGC targeted a Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over those two days. I'm supposed to tell you the tankers are the story. The interval is the story: Saturday to Tuesday, three, then five.
Iran didn't stand down after Tuesday. It fired missiles at Jordan. That's in the wires as of today. I'm not going to pretend that's contained. I said "contained" a minute ago. Strike that.
Here's where I hand it to the ambassador, and Huckabee did the job: he told the Post that bombing and bankrupting Iran are necessary to protect the United States. That's the sentence. Protect the US — not a savings figure, not a return, just protect. I want to add more to that and I don't have the receipt for it, so I'll leave it exactly where he left it.
Add it the way the wires did: three tankers Saturday, five Tuesday, missiles at Jordan by midweek, seven months since the president called this quick. CENTCOM said no personnel were injured after Saturday's strikes. There's no comparable count yet for Tuesday, and nobody's issued one for Jordan.
I came up here to tell you this war is saving money. What I can confirm is eight hulls disabled since Saturday and a second country now inside it. Those are the numbers I have. The one I don't have is whether any of this still counts as quick, or ever did.
“They promised six months and quick; now it's month seven, eight tankers sunk, and missiles landing in Jordan — that's not winding down, that's the meter running. Each "disabled" tanker they brag about is oil that isn't coming to market, and that's the price at the pump you're covering. Ambassador's on the podium calling it protection; my protection is a paycheck, not a hull count.”
“Look, three tankers Saturday, five Tuesday — that's not escalation, that's just faster accounting. The ambassador said it's about protecting the taxpayer, and taxpayers like a good return on— wait, he said protect, not return, those aren't the same thing, scratch that. It's protection. Just protection.”
The receipts
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee defended Donald Trump's strategy of bombing and bankrupting Iran, saying the actions are necessary to protect the US.
The U.S. military destroyed five Iranian oil tankers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Tuesday in response to attempted Iranian missile launches at U.S. Navy warships, the U.S.
U.S. Central Command said it hit five Iranian crude oil carriers on Tuesday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles on two occasions over two days.
Iran on Sunday threatened a "more painful" response to U.S. strikes on three Iranian oil tankers.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the primary flashpoint in the conflict.
· US destroys three Iranian tankers after failed Iranian attack on naval ships from the morgue, 5 Sep 2026
· U.S. strikes 3 Iranian oil tankers after Iran targets Navy warships, CENTCOM says from the morgue, 5 Sep 2026
· US launches retaliatory strikes on 3 Iranian oil carriers in response to attacks against Navy warships from the morgue, 5 Sep 2026
· U.S. military attacks 3 Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for American warship strikes from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· Iranian state media reports that the United States Navy attempted to capture an Iranian oil tanker. The oil tanker was boarded, commandeered and then returned by Iranian NEDSA marines in a helicopter from the morgue, 3 Nov 2021
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.