Podbit · The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Netanyahu tried to pull the U.S. into war with Iran under Obama, Biden, and Trump's first term — all said no. Himes says the PM likely painted a picture of Trump as a conquering hero with Trump Towers rising in Tehran, and this time it worked. America is paying the price.
Where this was said
At 16:03 · chapter starts 13:15
Galloway raises the provocative question of whether the Iran war represents one of the greatest intelligence failures in recent history, comparable to the WMD debacle before Iraq. Himes pushes back firmly: he never saw a single piece of intelligence suggesting the Iranian regime would crumble, and he draws a careful distinction between a genuine intelligence failure — like September 11th, where information existed but wasn't synthesised — and what appears to have happened here. [1] — Jim Himes "CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly told Trump four months before the war that the Iranian regime would not collapse and the Strait of H…" 13:15 According to press reports Himes cites, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Trump flat out, four months before hostilities began, that the regime was not going to fall and that closing the Strait of Hormuz was a very real risk. The parallel to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney's selective use of Iraq WMD intelligence is explicit: the most powerful man in the world either had a political agenda or simply wasn't interested in reality. The intelligence didn't fail — the leadership did.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly told Trump four months before the war that the Iranian regime would not collapse and the Strait of Hormuz closure was a real risk. Himes says this isn't an intelligence failure — it's a leadership failure. The president simply ignored his own intelligence community.
John Ratcliffe reportedly told Trump four months before the war that the Iranian regime would not fall and closing the Strait of Hormuz posed real dangers.
Himes called Netanyahu probably the wiliest leader he has ever met and said he likely told Trump the Iranian regime would fall quickly to persuade him into war.
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