John Kirby: The Iran War Objectives Are Muddled and Not Very Clearly Articulated to the American People

EXCERPT:

KIRBY: “Well, this is the same commander-in-chief who has said on more than one occasion that he knows more than the generals and admirals and that he trusts his instincts. And I think that’s exactly what that piece shows, is that the decision-making process isn’t done in a normal way. Now, I was glad when I read the piece, assuming the reporting is true, and I’m certainly in no position to challenge that, that both the Secretary of State and the CIA director provided that sort of blunt assessment of the Israeli plans and intentions. That’s good that they felt empowered and able to be that honest with President Trump. I think that’s that’s healthy. But again, you’re talking about a decision-making process which is determined by the leader that is not necessarily inclusive and deliberative. And then you end up getting to a point where, you know, the objectives are muddled and they’re not very clearly articulated to the American people. One day it is regime change, the next day it’s not. One day, it’s two to three weeks, the next day it’s we’ve won, it’s over. I mean, we’re all over the map here on the messaging. And that’s another big reason why not only have we not necessarily achieved the objectives that we wanted to achieve at this point, but that the American people are generally not in support of this war.”