3 hours from alert to attacks: How did U.S. protect troops from Iran strike?
WASHINGTON — The alert came to the White House shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday, a flash message from U.S. spy agencies that officials sometimes call a “squawk.” In the coming hours, it warned, an Iranian attack on American troops was almost certain.
The early warning provided by intelligence helps explain in part why the missiles exacted a negligible toll, destroying only evacuated aircraft hangars as they slammed into the desert sand in barren stretches of the base. No Americans or Iraqis were killed or wounded, and Trump, who indicated to advisers he would prefer to avoid further engagement, was relieved.
“If this is indeed the sum total of Iran’s response, it is a big signal of de-escalation that we should gratefully receive,” said Kirsten Fontenrose, who handled Middle East issues on the National Security Council earlier in the Trump administration.Hours before officials at the White House and Pentagon arrived at their desks Tuesday, American troops in Iraq were preparing for Iran’s retaliation to avenge the death of the general.
By morning in Washington, the intelligence was still vague enough that White House officials decided to keep Trump’s planned schedule, including the meeting with the prime minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Hours later, as Trump met with Mitsotakis, the White House received the “squawk” alert about a likely missile strike. Pence and O’Brien led the initial discussion in the Situation Room about how to confront the threat, assessing the intelligence about the Iranians’ likely targets.
It also included Pompeo, who has become a driving force in the Trump administration’s Iran policy and an advocate of what he often calls “restoring deterrence” against Tehran’s aggression in the Middle East. As a forceful proponent of the Friday strike that killed Soleimani, Pompeo had played an instrumental role in bringing Trump to the crisis point.
But at that moment days after his death, the president and his aides were confronting a flurry of conflicting information. Around 4 p.m., reports came in that a training camp north of Baghdad might have been hit. Officials at the White House and the State Department waited anxiously for the Pentagon to provide damage reports about the camp, Taji air base, where American troops are stationed.
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