YOU CAN LEAD A MAN TO FACTS…: At the heart of special counsel Jack Smith’s court filing , outlining his case against former President Donald Trump , is the evidence that despite being told by almost everyone — including his own vice president, attorney general, lawyers, and campaign officials — that there was no evidence the 2020 election was stolen from him, Trump stubbornly held on to that belief which motivated his actions leading to his indictment on charges he unlawfully attempted to overturn the will of the voters.
That case will be decided in federal court only if Trump loses next month’s election. However, another example of Trump’s resistance to accepting facts if they conflict with his instinctive beliefs was revived by vice presidential hopeful Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) in Tuesday night’s debate. “When Iranian missiles did fall near U.S. troops, and they received traumatic brain injuries, Donald Trump wrote it off as headaches,” Walz said, arguing that Trump was weak in his response to an attack on the al-Asad Air Base in Iraq in 2020 that resulted in more than 100 troops suffering traumatic brain injuries.
Asked at an event in Milwaukee if he should have been tougher on Iran, considering how many U.S. troops were injured, Trump pushed back on the suggestion that anyone was seriously hurt. “So, first of all, injured, what does injured mean? Injured means, you mean, because they had a headache because the bombs never hit the fort?” Trump replied. “None of those very accurate missiles hit our fort. They all hit outside. And there was nobody hurt, other than the sound was loud, and some people said that hurt, and I accept that.”
Trump went on to make a claim — which is not substantiated by the known facts or the recollections of his national security team — that Iran purportedly gave the U.S. a heads-up that its missiles would intentionally miss the base, so that the regime could claim to have responded to Trump’s assassination of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani , without provoking a war with the United States.
“They called us, and they told us, ‘We have to retaliate, but we’re not going to hit anybody. Just keep your people inside the military base,” Trump said. “Of the 18 rockets that were launched, six of them self-destructed, 12 of them — approximately, 12 of them arrived, and when they arrived — very accurate rockets, missiles. And when they arrived, they missed the fort. But they had to do that. And I thought it was a very nice thing, because they didn’t want us to retaliate again.”
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED : Trump’s former secretary of defense, Mark Esper , devoted over a dozen pages of his 2022 Memoir, A Sacred Oath, to the attack and its aftermath. Esper’s account meticulously documented how the serious brain wounds were not obvious at first and how, when it became evident how many troops were injured, Trump simply refused to accept it.
“I was disappointed and troubled by the president’s careless comment later in January, though, when he downplayed the casualty reports as ‘headaches’ that were ‘not very serious,’” Esper wrote. “It wasn’t clear if this was part of his braggadocio — that he hit Iran hard, and they didn’t lay a glove on us in return. If so, the truth interrupted that narrative.”
“So after a meeting in the Oval Office, I cornered him near the passageway that led to his private room in the back,” Esper recounted. “I told the president that his ‘comments aren’t playing well with the force’ and that ‘it sounds like you don’t care.’”
Trump bristled and questioned whether TBI was a real injury. “But the president didn’t get it. He said, ‘What about the soldiers in World War II? They didn’t have these brain injuries; they didn’t complain about headaches.’ Without saying it explicitly, he was claiming these were fictional injuries. He couldn’t reconcile the past with what we knew today.”
“The blasts from the Iranian missiles striking the base at Al Asad were no different,” Esper told him. “TBI was an ‘invisible’ injury that many of us were still learning about, including me,” he added.
“He stood opposite me listening, but not hearing. He shook his head, either disagreeing or unwilling to accept my explanation,” Esper concluded.
IRAN DID NOT MISS ON PURPOSE: Dramatic drone video shown by CBS 60 Minutes a month after the attack showed that 11 of the 16 missiles launched by Iran rained down on the base in Iraq where 2,000 troops were based. While many had been evacuated before the attack, others had to run for cover as each missile carrying a 1,000-pound warhead left craters up to 30 feet wide.
The initial assessment of the attack was that it was ineffective, with five of the Iranian missiles judged to be duds that were aimed elsewhere. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley reported that the Iranian missiles caused damage at the base to “tentage, a building, a helicopter.”
The Pentagon considered — and rejected — the idea that the attacks might have been intentionally limited. “Did they aim to kill or aim to warn?” Esper wrote. “The Iranians had done the latter in the past by intentionally shooting missiles far off target, claiming victory in their media, and then standing down,” Esper recalled, noting that Iranian news reports falsely claimed the missile strikes killed 80 Americans. “They were obviously playing to their domestic audience.”
“These were not warning shots. They wanted to kill Americans,” Milley told the president, according to Esper’s account. “I agreed with that assessment. While I was not surprised on one hand, I was on the other. Did Iran really want to risk all-out war with the United States over the killing of Soleimani, a man who had his fair share of enemies and detractors in Tehran?”
At no time did Trump say, or was there any evidence, that Iran gave the U.S. a warning or any assurance that they would miss the base internationally. That appears to be a story Trump likes to tell himself.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre ( @jamiejmcintyre ) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie . Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com . If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre .
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE
HAPPENING TODAY: 1,000 TROOPS HEAD SOUTH: President Joe Biden embarks on his second day touring the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene, with stops in Florida and Georgia, two states he didn’t make it to on Thursday.
“At my direction, the secretary of defense approved the deployment of up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to reinforce the North Carolina National Guard,” Biden said in a statement posted on X. “These soldiers will speed up the delivery of life-saving supplies of food, water, and medicine to isolated communities in North Carolina. They have the manpower and logistical capabilities to get this vital job done fast.”
“Hurricane Helene has been a storm of historic proportions. Our response will continue to meet this moment,” Biden said.
Biden will start his day in Tallahassee, Florida, where he will take an aerial tour of affected areas as he flies to Perry, Florida, where the hurricane first made landfall. He’ll get an operational briefing in Keaton Beach, Florida.
Then he flies to Valdosta, Georgia, where he’ll take another tour of hurricane ravaged areas before delivering remarks in Ray City, Georgia.
BIDEN SENDING UP TO 1,000 TROOPS TO NORTH CAROLINA AND OTHER HELENE DISASTER ZONES
BIDEN IS A ‘NO’ ON STRIKING IRAN’S NUCLEAR FACILITIES: As Israel is weighing its response to Iran’s unprecedented ballistic missile attack, President Biden is again urging restraint as he seeks to find a way to de-escalate the volatile Middle East conflict.
“Would you support an attack on Iran's nuclear sites by Israel?” a reporter asked Biden as he prepared to leave Washington to survey hurricane damage. “The answer is no. And I think there's things we'll be discussing with the Israelis about what they're going to do.”
Biden’s comments came after he consulted with fellow Group of Seven leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom about possible new sanctions against Iran. “We’re working on a joint statement all of us agree on,” Biden said. “And what we’re doing in that regard is we’re making it clear that there are things that have to be done.”
“Obviously, Iran has gone way out of — I mean, is way off board,” he said. “All seven of us agree that they have a right to respond, but they should respond in proportion.”
“What is your advice to Israel as far as how they should respond to this right now?” Biden was asked. “We’re giving them that advice,” he responded. “We’ve been talking to Bibi’s [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ] people the whole time. And it’s not necessary to talk to Bibi. I’ll probably be talking to him relatively soon, my guess.”
THIS IS WHAT ISRAEL COULD HIT IN RESPONSE TO IRAN ICBM ATTACK
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner : Jack Smith lays out new election case against Trump in unsealed filing
Washington Examiner : Trump attorneys urge more redactions ahead of Smith immunity brief unveiling
Washington Examiner : This is what Israel could hit in response to Iran ICBM attack
Washington Examiner : Arrow 2 and 3, Iron Dome, and David’s Sling: Israel’s air defense systems explained
Washington Examiner : Biden sending up to 1,000 troops to North Carolina and other Helene disaster zones
Washington Examiner : Judge sets Ryan Routh assassination attempt trial for November
Washington Examiner : Fact-check: Elon Musk claims Biden-Harris ‘fast-tracking’ illegal immigrants to vote
Washington Examiner : Opinion: Iran shows Israel can’t afford to ‘take the win’
Washington Examiner : Opinion: US should add to Israel’s Houthi strikes
AP : Biden Won't Support a Strike on Iran Nuclear Sites as Israel Weighs Response to Iran Missile Attack
Wall Street Journal : Israeli Response to Iran’s Attack to Set Course of Widening War
New York Times : Israel Says at Least 8 Soldiers Are Killed in Clashes With Hezbollah
Times of Israel : IDF Acknowledges Some Iranian Missiles Hit Air Bases, Says No Major Damage Caused
Defense One : Is the US Military Learning Enough from Ukraine?
Air & Space Forces Magazine : Pentagon Wants to Fastrack Buy of Cheap One-Way Drones
Militarycom : Army Testing Robot Dogs Armed with Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Rifles in Middle East
Air & Space Forces Magazine : Navy Will Pick a 6th-Gen Fighter as Air Force Pauses NGAD
Air & Space Forces Magazine : Air National Guard Delivers Lifeline on C-17 After Hurricane Helene
Air Force Times : No More Late Night Off-Base Drinking for US Troops in Japan
Air & Space Forces Magazine : Air Force Report: Hurricane Hunters Stretched Thin Amid Brutal Storms
National Security Journal : How Joe Biden May Be Empowering Iran’s Aggression Against Israel
National Security Journal : Could Israel Attack and Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program?
National Security Journal : Nothing Can Stop Iran From Getting a Nuclear Weapon
The Cipher Brief : Iran Targets Israel — and This Time, Signs Point to Wider War
The Cipher Brief : Russia’s Nuclear Partnership with North Korea
The Cipher Brief : Pentagon Leaders Say the Budget Process Hurts National Security. They’re Right.
National Security Journal : Beast Mode: The U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet Is Now a Bomb Truck
The Cipher Brief : Why the Buck Stops with Bulgaria When It Comes to Russian Interference in the Balkans
THE CALENDAR:
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 3
9:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: "What's Going on with Japan's Election?" with Sheila Smith , Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies; Yuki Tatsumi , director, Stimson Center's Japan Program; Victor Cha , CSIS Korea chair; and Mark Lippert , CSIS nonresident senior adviser https://www.csis.org/events/whats-going-japans-election-capital-cable-99
1 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: "The National Reconnaissance Office Story," with NRO Director Christopher Scolese https://www.csis.org/events/nro-story-conversation-dr-chris-scolese
6:30 p.m. 37th and O Sts. NW — Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service discussion: "Reflections on Running.” with former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley https://www.facebook.com/gupolitics
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4
10 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Wilson Center Middle East Program book discussion: The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century, with author retired Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie , former commander of U.S. Central Command https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/book-talk-melting-point
11 a.m. 11200 SW Eighth St., Miami, Florida — Brookings Institution discussion: "The U.S. and China in Latin America: Rivalry, Cooperation, or Something In-Between?" with R. Evan Ellis, research professor, U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute; Leland Lazarus , associate director of national security policy, Florida International University Institute for Public Policy; Valerie Wirtschafter , fellow, Brookings Institution Foreign Policy Program; Ted Piccone , nonresident senior fellow in the Brookings Institution Foreign Policy Center and Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology; and Arantxa Loizaga , network news anchor for NBCUniversal Telemundo https://www.brookings.edu/events/the-united-states-and-china-in-latin-america
SATURDAY | OCTOBER 12
TBA Germany — President Joe Biden hosts a leader-level meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group to coordinate with international partners on additional assistance for Ukraine
Local News
