President Donald Trump fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse on Friday. The White House gave no official reason. Many experts believe it was because Kruse gave an honest assessment of U.S. strikes on an Iranian nuclear site. Kruse said the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities by a few months, not “totally obliterated” them, as Trump claimed.
On Saturday, journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon defended Trump on CNN. She said Kruse was “objectively terrible at his job.” She added, “This (assessment) was obviously nonsense, the Israeli intelligence told us that we had set it back by years, it was obvious from the footage! The report could only have been this wrong if it were politically motivated!”
Ungar-Sargon’s defense faced immediate pushback. Abby Phillip, host of CNN’s “Table for Five,” said, “That is only the view that you would come to if you don’t understand how intelligence gathering works, or you don’t care how intelligence gathering works. More information is gathered over time, and there are often disagreements between agencies about what they understand to be the facts of the situation.”
Phillip’s point is important. Intelligence work is complex. Reports change as new facts appear. Agencies sometimes disagree. Trump’s reaction shows he does not like facts that clash with his version. When generals tell the truth, he punishes them. That is dangerous.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
Another panelist, comedian and commentator John Fugelsang, also criticized the firing. He called it a “war on facts.” Fugelsang said, “This poor general, imagine, he told the truth that no, we did not obliterate their nuclear plan. We had a working deal with Iran, our Pentagon swore that they were complying by the deal; Trump tore it up, now he’s bombing them, claims it was obliterated. I want to know if it wasn’t, and you don’t think Donald Trump’s going to bomb Iran again?”
Fugelsang points to a bigger problem. Trump ignores real information and tells his own story. Generals and intelligence officers cannot speak the truth. That weakens the military and puts the country in danger. Mistakes, miscalculations, and even war could follow.
Israeli intelligence also plays a role in this story. At first, their reports agreed with Kruse, showing the strikes did less damage than Trump said. But Israeli officials said the setback was two years, not months. Even allies did not fully back Trump’s exaggeration.
Watch the full clip of the CNN panel below.
Featured image via Youtube screengrab
