U.S. intelligence chiefs' testimony is out of sync with Trump's talking points
For the first time since the U.S. launched a war on Iran, this week top intelligence officials spoke publicly about the conflict. But their testimony before Congress contradicted President Donald Trump’s statements about the potential consequences and goals of the operation, challenging the White House’s effort to shape perceptions about the war.
In hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, intelligence chiefs told lawmakers that the White House was briefed about how Iran would likely retaliate against its neighbors if it came under attack, that Tehran could drive up oil prices and disrupt global supply chains, that regime change was not a goal of the war and that Israel appeared to have different objectives than Washington in the campaign.
Their answers diverged from Trump’s public comments and failed to sync with some of the White House’s talking points about the widening conflict in the Middle East.
As the war approaches its fourth week, Iran’s military is reeling from heavy bombing raids but Tehran has kept up a daily barrage of missile and drone attacks on its Arab neighbors, throttling commercial shipping in the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, damaging energy facilities across the Persian Gulf and causing a spike in oil prices that threatens to derail the global economy. Israel, meanwhile, has opened up a second front in Lebanon with waves of airstrikes and a ground incursion.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/u-intelligence-chiefs-testimony-sync-164712619.html