President Trump’s Iran policy has been broadly positive. But Trump was wrong on Wednesday to condemn intelligence professionals as uneducated.
….a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge. There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2019
Let’s start with the good stuff. Trump has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal and has exerted major pressure on Tehran to negotiate a better deal: one that includes Iran’s ballistic missile development and sharpens inspection mechanisms. In addition, from Beirut to Baghdad, U.S. influence against Iranian malfeasance is being exerted with far greater impetus than under the Obama administration. CIA officers have been unleashed against Iranian aggression, and State Department diplomats have the authority to consolidate regional actors against Iranian intimidation. This matters for Middle Eastern political stability, but also for long-term U.S. security interests. Trump has also shown a positive interest in dialogue with more-moderate Iranian leaders.
But Trump is wrong to criticize intelligence community professionals as uneducated or somehow ignorant. First off, the vast majority of these professionals are better educated than Trump himself, and certainly more curious about the world. Trump tends to see international affairs as a boring system of transactions best navigated by his impulses in any one moment. And while that sometimes works — as with getting North Korea away from missile tests and to the negotiating table — on other issues, such as Syria, it is a very bad idea.
Still, the most obvious reason why Trump is wrong to criticize intelligence personnel is the most basic: he is the president and they are patriots who have chosen to serve. Many of them could be making more money more easily in the private sector. They choose America and bureaucratic annoyance over the acquisition of wealth.
Ultimately, Trump shouldn’t be so petulant. He’s doing a good job on Iran and intelligence professionals are doing a good job for America. The two are best left to coexist in mutual cooperation.
