How Congress Can Help Rebuild a Demoralized Intelligence Community

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How Congress Can Help Rebuild a Demoralized Intelligence Community

TL;DR

  • CIA officers recognize a dichotomy between policy successes and intelligence failures.
  • In Iran, intelligence warnings were accurate, but the White House had undermined its ability to process them.
  • The machinery for a president to weigh warnings and U.S. interests was dismantled.
  • The Joint Chiefs of Staff warned the president that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz.
  • This warning came before the first strikes on Iran on February 28.
  • Pentagon war games had assumed this capability for decades.