"The CIA initially told the president that they did not believe the missile that struck the school was a munition used by the US because the fins appeared to be positioned too low for it to be a Tomahawk cruise missile. Within 24 hours, the CIA realized that early assessment had been wrong after it became clear from additional videos, taken at other angles, that the missile was in fact a Tomahawk."
"Trump had already settled on the explanation that Iran was responsible for the strike before he raised it to reporters on Air Force One last Saturday, even as the defense secretary Pete Hegseth was more cautious and said only the matter was under investigation. Trump repeated his position at a news conference the following day."
"Giving Trump preliminary information is dangerous because he can turn it into a total embarrassment, one former CIA officer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. If the principal asks you a question, the best thing to say is you don't know, knowing how hard it is to go back later to correct the record."
An elementary school was struck by a missile that Trump initially blamed on Iran. The CIA's preliminary assessment suggested the missile was not American based on fin positioning, but this conclusion was reversed within 24 hours after additional video evidence confirmed it was a US Tomahawk cruise missile. Trump had already committed to the Iran explanation before publicly raising it to reporters and repeated this position at a subsequent news conference. While acknowledging the missile was a Tomahawk, Trump suggested it belonged to Iran. Former intelligence officials criticized both Trump and his briefers for the handling of preliminary intelligence, noting that providing incomplete information to the president creates risks of public embarrassment and difficulty correcting the record later. Pentagon investigations confirmed the missile was fired by the US military.
#intelligence-assessment-error #iran-blame-attribution #tomahawk-missile #presidential-misinformation #cia-intelligence-correction
Read at www.theguardian.com
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