Kevin Baron, the former editor of Defense One, commented on President Trump's NATO summit remarks, specifically that he purportedly permitted Iran to attack a U.S. base in Qatar. Baron expressed disbelief at Trump's statement, emphasizing its significance in the context of military operations. He reflected on the intelligence assessment's confidence level, suggesting that both the initial report's nature and the administration's response to media coverage contributed to a complex narrative that requires careful reporting. Baron criticized the administration's insistence on correctness despite the preliminary nature of the intelligence.
As a journalist who's covered the Pentagon for 15 years and lots of NATO summits, the headline that struck me was Trump telling the world, boasting to the world that he gave Iran permission to strike a U.S. military base.
That to me is unbelievable. I think that's something we can't just like paper over and take as the normal course of events in this combat mission that happened.
There's a little bit of truth on both sides here. This is an initial intelligence assessment. It's from DIA, yes, but it did say low confidence.
The president's right to say that this is an initial report...but where they go over the line is this just insistence that they got it right.
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