Between March 6 and March 8, 2026, the United States conducted military attacks across three continents in 72 hours — one of the few instances since World War II that the U.S. has been simultaneously involved in armed conflicts with such a wide geographic sweep. All were ordered without fresh congressional authorization.
On March 6, the U.S. bombed a camp along the Colombia-Ecuador border as part of Operation Southern Spear, targeting alleged narco-terrorists affiliated with FARC dissidents. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced: “We are bombing Narco Terrorists on land as well.” Neither Ecuador nor the U.S. confirmed whether anyone was killed or captured. This expanded what had been a boat-strike campaign into land-based bombing in a sovereign allied nation.
On March 7, Trump posted “Today Iran will be hit very hard!” and U.S. Central Command struck unspecified Iranian targets, with Trump warning that areas “not considered for targeting up until this moment in time” were now under consideration. This came during the third week of Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing war against Iran launched without congressional approval.
On March 8, AFRICOM conducted an airstrike targeting ISIS-Somalia in the Golis Mountains — at least the 43rd U.S. airstrike in Somalia in 2026 alone, on pace to break the annual record of 124 strikes set in 2025. The same day, SOUTHCOM struck a boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing six men described as “narco-terrorists.” As of that date, at least 157 people had been killed in at least 45 strikes on 46 vessels under Operation Southern Spear, with the administration offering little public evidence that those killed were actually terrorists.
Former State Department lawyer Brian Finucane characterized the globe-spanning campaign as “unprecedented given the absence of any fresh congressional authorization,” emphasizing that “the U.S. Constitution requires congressional authorization before using military force in this manner.” The 72-hour span saw the U.S. actively bombing in South America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Pacific Ocean simultaneously.