Atlantic Council: War on Iran, the product of Washington's intelligence error

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - International Service: The Atlantic Council think tank wrote in a report: The war with Iran is an intelligence failure. In 2005, a bipartisan commission consisting of lawmakers and security experts concluded that "the intelligence community was completely wrong in almost all pre-war assessments of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction." US intelligence agencies had told George Bush that Saddam Hussein had revived the nuclear weapons program and that Iraq had biological weapons, mobile production facilities, and chemical weapons stockpiles.

The think tank added: These same claims were the basis for the US attack and the eight-year occupation of Iraq. “None of these claims could be verified after the war ended,” the commission concluded. “This was a major intelligence failure.” If a similar panel were to examine the process leading up to the current war with Iran, its assessment would likely be this: The intelligence community was accurate and consistent in its prewar assessments of Iran’s capabilities and intentions to attack the United States and its allies. Contrary to what Donald Trump has argued to justify his decision, the available information showed that the Iranian regime was not preparing to use nuclear weapons; it did not possess ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States; and if the United States were to attack, it would likely attack neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf and try to close the Strait of Hormuz, an action that could cause a global economic crisis.