President Donald Trump went on an unhinged Twitter storm yesterday, blasting America's intel chiefs, in the process confirming the judgment of the United States Intelligence Community (USIC) that his ignorance of national security and foreign affairs are a clear danger to the United States.
As was expected, Trump again attacked his own intelligence services for doing their job. On Tuesday, leaders of USIC led by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
USIC basically said Trump's decisions on a number of keys security and foreign policy issues are questionable, to say the least. Its assessment of the president is outlined in the latest U.S. Worldwide Threat Assessment report presented to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The USIC briefing before the Senate reflected the collective insights of the Intelligence Community about the biggest security threats currently facing the United States. USIC made it a point to single out what it sees as Trump's major mistakes as related to national security.
These include Trump's baseless claim ISIS has been totally defeated; North Korea no longer presents a nuclear threat to the U.S.; Russia never meddled in the 2016 presidential election; Iran was developing nuclear weapons in violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and that climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese.
In a series of dismaying Twitter rants, the apparently unbalanced U.S. president responded to these allegations with outright lies and character assassinations.
"The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong!" tweeted Trump.
He again repeated the falsehood Iran had violated JCPOA. Trump said that since ending the "terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge."
Trump then delivered a slap to the face of USIC: "Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!"
In a series of tweets, Trump boasted about the "tremendous progress" against ISIS. He also praised himself for the framework for talks with the Taliban to end the 17 year-long war in Afghanistan. And he again boasted of his attempt to cuddle-up to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Defending his failed summit with Kim in Singapore on June 12, 2018, Trump now says there is a "decent chance of denuclearization" on the Korean Peninsula. Analysts noted this statement is a radical comedown from Trump's original demands that North Korea end its nuclear program.
And, as might be expected, Trump made no mention of Russia and its crimes against the United States. Trump also made no mention about the USIC assessment that climate change is a threat to U.S. national security.
