Jan 10, 2020, 19:47 pm
The White House justified the airstrike that killed a top Iranian general by claiming that the target was planning attacks against Americans, but officials have been firmly against showing proof of these impending attacks. There’s probably a good reason for that: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has gone on record saying that the United States had virtually no useful information about Qasem Soleimani's plans.
Pompeo appeared on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Thursday to support President Donald Trump’s handling of the recent Iran crisis. He also fired back at critics of a classified intelligence briefing done in Congress on Thursday meant to help justify the decision to kill Soleimani.
Many Democrats and even two Republicans blasted Pompeo’s briefing, believing it didn’t sufficiently demonstrate a necessity to kill Soleimani. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) was especially unkind about the briefing, having said it’s the worst he’s attended since serving in Congress.
Since that briefing was classified, there can only be speculation as to why it left so many dissatisfied. However, Pompeo was surprisingly willing to hint as to why Congress might have been so critical of it.
Referring to the claim that Soleimani was planning imminent attacks against Americans, Pompeo told Ingraham that “we don’t know precisely when, and we don’t know precisely where, but it was real … There was a real opportunity here and there was a real necessity here. We made the right decision. The president made the right call.”
In other words, the intelligence briefing in Congress was likely so disappointing because Pompeo’s team was unable to provide basic details such as when and where the attacks were to occur – the former being particularly important given the White House’s assertion that attacks by Soleimani were imminent.
https://www.ibtimes.com/pompeo-admits-us...ck-2899993
Pompeo appeared on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Thursday to support President Donald Trump’s handling of the recent Iran crisis. He also fired back at critics of a classified intelligence briefing done in Congress on Thursday meant to help justify the decision to kill Soleimani.
Many Democrats and even two Republicans blasted Pompeo’s briefing, believing it didn’t sufficiently demonstrate a necessity to kill Soleimani. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) was especially unkind about the briefing, having said it’s the worst he’s attended since serving in Congress.
Since that briefing was classified, there can only be speculation as to why it left so many dissatisfied. However, Pompeo was surprisingly willing to hint as to why Congress might have been so critical of it.
Referring to the claim that Soleimani was planning imminent attacks against Americans, Pompeo told Ingraham that “we don’t know precisely when, and we don’t know precisely where, but it was real … There was a real opportunity here and there was a real necessity here. We made the right decision. The president made the right call.”
In other words, the intelligence briefing in Congress was likely so disappointing because Pompeo’s team was unable to provide basic details such as when and where the attacks were to occur – the former being particularly important given the White House’s assertion that attacks by Soleimani were imminent.
https://www.ibtimes.com/pompeo-admits-us...ck-2899993