.MaddowBlog: Even Defense Sec. Esper won’t back Pres. Trump up on airstrike claim.
It’s been 10 days since Donald Trump authorized an airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which was launched in order to prevent an imminent attack. Well, maybe not imminent. But the president and his team certainly knew of a deadly attack Soleimani was planning.
And I can reveal that I believe that the president is making stuff up as he goes along – and as a rule, those who repeatedly change their stories should probably expect some skepticism. “I didn’t see one with regard to four embassies,” Esper said of a specific piece of evidence leading to Trump’s conclusion. “What I’m saying is I shared the president’s view … my expectation was they were going to go after our embassies.”
Just as important, though, was the Pentagon chief’s concession that he “didn’t see” intelligence in line with Trump’s obviously dubious claims.
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