Tulsi Gabbard: US and Israeli war goals are not identical

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified on Thursday that Israeli and U.S. goals in the war in Iran were not identical.

Speaking about the intelligence community’s yearly Threats Assessment before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and responding to questions from Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Gabbard said that the two countries are pursuing distinct objectives in the conflict.

“The objectives that have been laid out by the president are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government,” Gabbard said. “We can see through the operations that the Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership and taking out several members, obviously beginning with the Supreme Leader. (...) The president has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability, and their navy.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe agreed. “To be clear, the president’s objectives with respect to Operation Epic Fury did not include regime change. That may be different from what Israel’s objectives were,” he said.

Unfortunately it has not been clear from the start whether the administration was embracing regime change, or not. In President Donald Trump’s remarks launching the war on Feb. 28, he suggested that was exactly what the U.S. was doing:

To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity. Or in the alternative, face certain death. So, lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death. Finally, to the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.

Neither Gabbard nor Ratcliffe provided an answer on Thursday as to why Israel struck Iranian infrastructure despite opposition from President Donald Trump or whether the Israeli government supported U.S. diplomatic efforts with Iran. Earlier this week, Israel targeted and killed Ali Larjiani, a top Iranian security official, who, as Trita Parsi wrote in RS “was not only a key figure within the regime who had emerged as the chief consensus builder, but also someone who favored talks with the U.S. and who could build consensus within the system for an Iranian off-ramp at some point.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) also questioned Gabbard about the resignation of the director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Joe Kent, earlier this week. Gabbard refused to expressly disavow Kent’s letter, which rejected that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, instead repeating a variation of statements she made on social media and before the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this week.

Gabbard said her role was to provide the president with intelligence, and that it was ultimately the commander in chief who “is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action.” Gabbard did agree with Stefanik that Kent’s decision to place blame on Israel for the war was concerning.

Gabbard similarly avoided directly answering questions about whether she stood by statements she made as a member of Congress, when she argued that President Donald Trump’s decision to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020 was “illegal and unconstitutional” and could lead to a wider war that would be “so costly and devastating, it would make our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan look like a picnic.”

“The cost of war weighs very heavily upon me and my colleagues,” Gabbard responded. “My own personal and political views, as I mentioned earlier, I was asked and required by Congress and by the President, in this role as the Director of National Intelligence, to check those views at the door.”

During her testimony in front of the Senate yesterday, Gabbard said the intelligence community had no evidence that Iran had attempted to rebuild its nuclear enrichment program following U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities last June.