'There Is No Intel': #Trump's Attacks on #Iran Were Based on Vibes, Sources Say
Following Trump's attacks on Iran, an admin official tells Rolling Stone, "The intelligence assessments have not really changed"
After Trump's decision to strike 3 Iranian #nuclear facilities on Sat, admin ofcls are barely bothering to pretend the unprecedented—& potentially calamitous—attacks were motivated by new #intelligence suggesting Iran was on the brink of having nuclear weapons.
rollingstone.com/politics/poli…
Trump’s Attacks on Iran Were Based on ‘No Intel’: Sources
Trump’s decision to strike three Iranian nuclear facilities was not based on new intelligence, administration officials say.Andrew Perez (Rolling Stone)
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Paul Sutton
in reply to Nonilex • • •Seems odd that we are backing Israel over fears that Iran will develop nuclear weapons, and yet we seem to be allowing North Korea to do the same.
North Korea is still trying to do this and it is taking a long time, despite being friends with Nuclear nations (China and Russia), both of those countries have I think, signed the Arms Non proliferation treaty.
So even if Iran were to develop a nuclear bomb it could take far longer to develop that alongside a delivery system that can be used against a target (e.g Israel)
Ryananana
in reply to Paul Sutton • • •Paul Sutton
in reply to Ryananana • • •Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •Just months ago, Trump's Director of National Intelligence #TulsiGabbard testified to #Congress, in her opening statement, that the US intel community "continues to assess that #Iran is not building a #nuclear weapon" & had not reauthorized its nuclear weapons program.
While #Trump recently publicly disputed Gabbard's testimony, acc/to 2 admin ofcls with knowledge of internal deliberations in recent weeks, Trump's decision to strike was not driven by any new US #intelligence on Iran.
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •"There is no intel," said one of the ofcls…."The president is *protecting* the United States & our interests, [but] the intelligence assessments have not really changed from what they were before."
Sen #ChrisMurphy, who sits on the #ForeignRelations Cmte, confirmed…American #intelligence assessments on #Iran have not changed. "I was briefed on the intelligence last week. Iran posed no imminent threat of attack to the United States. Iran was not close to building a deliverable nuclear weapon."
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •The second #Trump admin skipped the pretense, opting to speed-run the #US into conflict, at a time when public polling shows that the idea of #war with #Iran is spectacularly unpopular with the American people.
In his address to the nation Saturday evening, Trump said, "Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity & a stop to the #nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror."
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •#Trump did not claim on Saturday that he launched the attacks because #Iran was close to having a #nuclear weapon - as he had suggested earlier in the week. "I think they were very close to having one," the president said Tuesday, as he disputed Gabbard's testimony to #Congress.
#MiddleEast #war
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •The #Trump admin has since attempted to recast Gabbard's comments before #Congress, because, after she said #Iran was "not building a nuclear weapon," she had added: "Iran's enriched #uranium stockpile is at its highest levels & is unprecedented for a state without #nuclear weapons."
#MiddleEast #war
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •…Across the federal government, senior officials & policymakers aren't pretending that #Trump's claims of an imminent #nuclear threat are built on anything but vibes, whether intentionally manufactured or not.
During a press conference Sunday morning, Defense Secy #PeteHegseth was asked whether the US had new #intelligence suggesting #Iran had been attempting to build nuclear weapons.
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •"I would just simply say that the president's made it very clear he's looked at all of this - all of the intelligence, all the information - & come to the conclusion that the Iranian #nuclear program is a threat," #Hegseth said.
Appearing on Meet the Press on Sunday, #JDVance was asked whether #Trump had moved to attack #Iran based on #US #intelligence or rather intel provided by #Israel, which has been attacking Iranian nuclear & military sites, officials, & scientists since June 13.
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •"Of course, we share intelligence with a lot of agencies, British, Israeli & so forth, but it was our intelligence that motivated us to act," #JDVance said, before quickly pivoting.
"The thing that I would really emphasize is the way in which the Iranians seem to be stonewalling us," he said. "That was not, by the way, our consensus back in March of this year, we saw the Iranians making some concessions. We thought the conversations were actually productive.“
#MiddleEast #Iran #war #Trump
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •#JDVance continued, “By mid-May, everybody in our intelligence community & the president's senior team looked at ourselves and said, the Iranians are not being serious. ... If you believe, as we did, that the Iranians are rushing towards a nuclear weapons program while simultaneously refusing to negotiate, how can we do anything but take serious action against this program?"
#MiddleEast #Iran #war #Trump
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •Secretary of #State #MarcoRubio was pressed on Face the Nation on Sunday to say whether the U.S. had seen intelligence showing that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had ordered the country to make #nuclear weapons.
"That's irrelevant," Rubio said, saying it didn't matter if such an order was given. "They have everything they need for a nuclear weapon," he added.
#MiddleEast #Iran #war #Trump
·J Mopp
in reply to Nonilex • • •Pēteris Krišjānis
in reply to Nonilex • • •