Who Can You Believe?
It’s hard to get your arms around what’s going on these days – one thing pops up, a contradiction pops up, and it leaves you befuddled.
Trump said we ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear sites. That sounded good. Better than good. The ayatollah wouldn’t get his hands on a nuclear bomb.
But in the blink of an eye a leaked intelligence report popped up that said we hadn’t done much damage to Iran. And since the report was from Trump’s own Defense Department it sounded credible.
Trump said obliterated again. Defending Trump, Tulsi Gabbard announced he was right. And the head of the CIA said we did ‘serious damage’ to Iran – but both are Trump appointees. And former politicians. And neither gave proof.
Trump sent Pete Hegseth to hold a press conference to set things straight – but instead of setting things straight Hegseth, bristling like an angry teenager, tore into the press, told one reporter he’d worked with at Fox News: Jennifer, you’ve been one of the worst.
Beside him, calmer, more thoughtful, General Dan Caine dove into details, looking back 15 years explained how the ‘bunk buster’ bombs were built, how the mission was planned, what he’d expected to happen and why he thought what he expected did happen. But, then, as he finished speaking he said the military doesn’t do BDA’s (Bomb Damage Assessments) – those reports come from intelligence agencies. Give him credit for honesty. He made it clear he was talking about what he thought happened – not what he knew happened.
A reporter asked Hegseth if a BDA intelligence report about what actually happened would be made public.
Sounding like a politician, side-stepping, Hegseth said ‘what should be made public would be made public.’
So did we put an end to Iran’s nuclear weapons? Let’s hope so. But, right now, there’s still no one in sight you can believe. And that leaves you scratching your head.
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Telling stories, in his memoir Carter Wrenn follows The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics from Reagan to Trump. Order his book from Amazon.
Who Can You Believe?
It’s hard to get your arms around what’s going on these days – one thing pops up, a contradiction pops up, and it leaves you befuddled.
Trump said we ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear sites. That sounded good. Better than good. The ayatollah wouldn’t get his hands on a nuclear bomb.
But in the blink of an eye a leaked intelligence report popped up that said we hadn’t done much damage to Iran. And since the report was from Trump’s own Defense Department it sounded credible.
Trump said obliterated again. Defending Trump, Tulsi Gabbard announced he was right. And the head of the CIA said we did ‘serious damage’ to Iran – but both are Trump appointees. And former politicians. And neither gave proof.
Trump sent Pete Hegseth to hold a press conference to set things straight – but instead of setting things straight Hegseth, bristling like an angry teenager, tore into the press, told one reporter he’d worked with at Fox News: Jennifer, you’ve been one of the worst.
Beside him, calmer, more thoughtful, General Dan Caine dove into details, looking back 15 years explained how the ‘bunk buster’ bombs were built, how the mission was planned, what he’d expected to happen and why he thought what he expected did happen. But, then, as he finished speaking he said the military doesn’t do BDA’s (Bomb Damage Assessments) – those reports come from intelligence agencies. Give him credit for honesty. He made it clear he was talking about what he thought happened – not what he knew happened.
A reporter asked Hegseth if a BDA intelligence report about what actually happened would be made public.
Sounding like a politician, side-stepping, Hegseth said ‘what should be made public would be made public.’
So did we put an end to Iran’s nuclear weapons? Let’s hope so. But, right now, there’s still no one in sight you can believe. And that leaves you scratching your head.
*******
Telling stories, in his memoir Carter Wrenn follows The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics from Reagan to Trump. Order his book from Amazon.