Probably. Since I haven’t seen the original report, can’t say what was in it. Can only go with what was reported which indicated a preliminary report which had low confidence that not much impact to the nuclear program. The media then chose to spin it for a certain political agenda. As time goes by there will be more information discovered as part of the BDA. Some of that information is starting to come out which disputes the narrative that to original story tried to drive. im sure there’s a lot of discussions ongoing on whether some aspects that would normally be classified to be released. In the big picture I do not think that would be a wise decision.
The report is real. It is a report that DIA is supposed to do. Whoever leaked the info to CNN and the other outlets probably did not give them the actual report but just the gist of it. Bertrand never actually served in the IC and does not understand how it actually works, so she probably never heard the difference between Phase 2 and Phase 3 BDA until Tuesday. She has a history of being easily led by her sources.
She asked a straightforward and important question. Odd how this administration refuses to answer difficult questions. I didn’t hear the entire presentation, maybe he mentions the results instead of repeating ‘obliterated’ on rote.
An interesting clue as to the extent of the damage at Fordow. The entrances to the place were sealed off with dirt. A completely devastating attack causing roofs to collapse would be expected to blow out this material (like an explosion in a house blowing out the windows), but it did not. It seems likely (to me) that the volume inside was large enough to contain the pressure wave from the blasts. One potential positive from the attack: there is a good chance that the rotors in the centrifuges, which are precision devices, could be damaged from the vibration of the explosions. It might be more likely had they been spinning at the time, of course. Also, there was no collapse visible above the facility, which makes sense because the facility was so deep below the surface and it was solid rock. How badly damaged is Iran’s nuclear programme? Here’s the evidence
I can't stand Jennifer Griffin's brand of anti-Trump sniping spin. I just want to throw up every time she opens her mouth. Send her back to CBS where she belongs. Send Jacqui Heinrick (White House) with her. I feel like I've been watching the Wizard of Oz. Most people here and all around the world are ecstatic that Iran's nuclear capability has been obliterated, insert liquidated for the Wizard of Oz equivalent. It's true for everyone except the lamestream media and the elected officials in the democratic party. The latest "speculation" as of last night is the leak of the top secret/low confidence DIA report came from inside congress. The fact is that being an elected member of congress is no cover for treason. When the leak source is identified, whomever it is will be charged, convicted, and sent to prison for a long, long time.
Seems to me that the path of least resistance for any overpressure to escape would have been back up the ventilation shafts directly above the explosion (according to Hegseth and Caine yesterday there were two sets of three openings, we put 6 bombs down the middle opening in each set) rather than out a tunnel that was packed with dirt and, I assume, likely had fairly substantial doors as well, on the other side of the mountain. So I’m not sure that “the sand didn’t blow out of the tunnels” necessarily tells you much.
I am by no means an expert in bomb blast calculations, but there are a number of factors that go into determining the size of the pressure wave and how it affects structures. If the bomb went down through a narrow passageway and then into a large chamber before detonating, then you would not expect as much of a pressure wave to return up through the opening on top. Sometimes doors of this type are designed to defend against pressure and impact from outside the structure, and are less strong against forces from within the structure. If the chamber had other passageways that were open and led to other chambers, then the blast force would be reduced, etc. I would be curious to know if they considered a bomb that did not explode upon impact, but rapidly disperses a flammable gas into the air for a second bomb to ignite (or has a delayed ignition fuse), and whether that would be more effective in this type of operation. The U.S. has such a bomb, but maybe it is not suitable for penetrating the outer defenses.
One interesting factoid that came out of the Hegseth briefing is that the US had been working on a plan, to bomb Fordow, for FIFTEEN years. Wouldn’t it be a hoot is the US expended most of its bunker busters destroying the facility and finding out that Iran moved the uranium prior and had centrifuges elsewhere ? Put another way, how stupid would Iran have been just to leave everything laying there, waiting to be struck, for years and years without some sort of redundancy built in ? I suspect the bombing was staged.
Good article on Gen Rasin Caine. I’ll admit, he seems like a straight shooter. Refreshingly gives the facts without praising trump. Hopefully he doesn’t get forced into a political crucible. “Caine, in his blue Air Force uniform, offered a meticulous recounting of the operation and a measured assessment of its success. The Iranian nuclear facilities hit by U.S. bombers “sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” he said, but noted that a final assessment of the damage would take time. He didn’t mention Trump once. At one point, he was asked whether he had been pressured to massage his assessment to fit a political agenda. He quickly answered “no, I have not, and no, I would not.” https://www.wsj.com/politics/nation...47c49?st=pZ6hTy&reflink=article_copyURL_share
What an embarrassment Hegseth is. Not only does he act like a child toward his former colleague, he then starts talking about it like he's in a production meeting at FOX. That's your Secretary of Defense folks. Proud moments to remember.
griffin comes from the Shepard Smith, Murdoch family contingent at FoxNews and Pete knows it. He’s referencing her longstanding dislike off all things Trump and how that would effects her journalism ‘opinions’. He wasn’t solely referencing this exchange.
yep, that was odd. She didn’t give a speech and just asked a straight-forward question. Not sure if he was trying to intimidate the press or it was a personal affront that it was a fox reporter, but it triggered him. She shouldn’t have given his response the dignity of defending herself - and instead, after his little fit say “that doesn’t answer my question so I’ll ask again, do we have info they took out weapons grade uranium before we bombed them?”
