Did the US Obliterate Iran's Nuclear Program? We Just Don't Know
The White House is in full propaganda mode about the intelligence on Midnight Hammer. So are its critics. For now, ignore them all.
Here’s the story.
Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images
Let’s see: Did the United States ever let good storytelling interfere with rigorous intelligence gathering in making the case for war in the Middle East? Well, there was the prologue to that war in 2003, when the White House told the country, the world and itself that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which turned out not to exist. Surely, the US wouldn’t let powerful narratives trump truth-seeking ever again. Or would it?
Sadly, the White House might be in the process of repeating that mistake. The controversy is about operation Midnight Hammer, in which American bombers and other aircraft struck Iran’s nuclear facilities. The debate is not — and should not be — about whether the mission was militarily impressive and the pilots, including a woman, were heroic (yes and yes). It should focus on only one thing: Did it achieve its strategic objective?