President Donald Trump, left, sits with Secretary of Defense Mark Esper AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Esper said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he “didn’t see” specific evidence that Soleimani was planning attacks on four US embassies, as Trump told Fox News in an interview Friday, but did believe there was a possibility for such attacks.
“What the president said was he believed that it probably and could’ve been attacks against additional embassies,” Esper told host Margaret Brennan. “I shared that view. I know other members of the national security team shared that view. That’s why I deployed thousands of American paratroopers to the Middle East to reinforce our embassy in Baghdad and other sites throughout the region.”
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“The president didn’t cite a specific piece of evidence, what he said was he believed,” Esper said. “I didn’t see one, with regard to four embassies. What I’m saying is that I shared the president’s view that my expectation was they were going to go after our embassies.”
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Trump made the “four embassies” claim as he was experiencing increasing pressure from Democratic and Republican congressional lawmakers who have pressed for further explanation and evidence into the administration’s thinking behind the attack.
Navy Vet
Article URL : https://www.businessinsider.com/defense-secretary-esper-didnt-see-iran-threat-us-embassies-2020-1