LOS ANGELES.–Testifying in Congress June 17, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the intel community does not believe that Iran has an active A-bomb program, prompting a stern rebuke from 79-year-old President Donald Trump. Trump said he didn’t care what Gabbard said to Congress, saying she was “wrong.” Trump insists that Iran is only weeks or months away from a crude nuclear device, something he won’t let happen. When former President Barack Obama signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] in 2015, it prompted Trump when he announced for president to say Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon. Gabbard walked back her initial testimony, saying it was taken out of context by the fake news. Iran insists that it’s nuclear enrichment program was for peaceful purposes but can’t explain why its been enriching uranium to 60%, only 30% under weapons grade material needed for a nuclear bomb?
Gabbard came around to Trump’s position admitting that Trump was right Iran was closer to a crude A-bomb than thought by the intel community. Trump doesn’t have much trust in the intel community after it said in 2017 that 17 intel agencies concluded that Russia influenced the 2016 presidential election. Trump was investigated for years, accused by the Obama administration of colluding with the Kremlin to win the 2016 presidential election. Obama’s Justice Department and FBI investigated Trump largely to sabotage his 2016, handing the election to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hillary accused Trump of colluding with the Kremlin, prompting Obama’s DOJ to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to investigate. Mueller found after 22-months, $40 million investigation, Trump did not collude with Russia.
So, when it comes to the intel community, they all said in 2003 that Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction [WMD]. After Saddam was toppled April 10, 2003, the Bush-43 White House admitted that no WMD was found in Iraq. When it comes to the intel community, Trump has a high degree of skepticism, preferring to rely on his own facts and common sense. Knowing that Iran has 408 kilograms of 60% enriched Uranium, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency IAEA says Iran is grossly out of compliance with U.N. standards. With enough uranium to built at least 10 A-bombs, Iran could fashion a crude nuclear device within weeks or months. Gabbard changed her tune because her job was on the line. No one with any common sense thinks Iran is not a nuclear threat.
Trump gave Iran two weeks in which to come back to the table and sign a new nuke agreement. Trump has already let Iran cross many lines, giving the Ayatollah 60 days to sign a new agreement. Once the 61st day, June 13, Israel launched its bombing campaign against Iran. Iran is “at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon with weeks or months,” Gabbard said, showing that she’s on the same page as Trump. Trump cancelled Obama’s JCPOA because Iran’s Yemen-based Houothi proxy militita was at war with Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally. Trump said Obama’s JCPOA had no real verification provision, denying access to Iran’s military enrichment sites to the U.N.’s IAEA. Shortly after cancelling the JCPOA May 8, 2018, the Ayatollah increased uranium production to 60% letting his adversaries know that he was preparing for an A-bomb.
Iran was caught flat footed when Israel attacked June 13, only one day after Trump’s 60 day deadline expired. Iran probably paid no attention to Trump’s deadline just like they’re not taking his current demand for Iran to sign an new nuke deal. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was “absolutely ready for a negotiated solution on their nuclear program but that Iran “cannot go through negotiations with the U.S. when our people are under bombardment,” Araghchi said. So, if Trump wants to take a more diplomatic approach, he’d ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt his military operations. Trump said he was reluctant to ask Netanyahu to stop primarily because he was winning the war, despite damage from Iranian missiles in Israeli cities. Araghchi sounds like the boy who cried wolf, making promises he has no intent of keeping. Trump at this point doesn’t trust Iran to meet any of its commitments to a new peace deal.
Trump ordered B-2 stealth bombers to Guam where they’re ready to go should he give the signal to bomb Iran’s underground Fordow uranium enrichment site. Without U.S. help, it’s doubtful Netanyahu can stop Iran’s high-speed advanced centrifuges currently spinning Uraninum 232 into weapons grade material. No longer able to play games with Iran, Trump is close to deciding to join Israel’s war to destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment programs. No one really knows whether the bunker buster GBU/57 30,000 pound bomb can stop Iran’s Fordow plant. Judging by Trump commitment to stop Iran from getting an A-bomb, it seems likely that he’ll order the B-2 Stealth Bomber strike on Fordow. How that plays out in the scheme of things is anyone’s guess. Some members of Trumps MAGA coalition are fearful of Trump getting the U.S. into another foreign war.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
