Tucker Carlson on intelligence community: 'About 20 minutes ago we were denouncing these people as the deep state'
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Following the death of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week, Tucker Carlson questioned the motivation of the anonymous intelligence officials who provided the information that set up the deadly drone strike.
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"It's hard to remember now but as recently as last week most people didn't consider Iran an imminent threat," Carlson said on "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "Iranian saboteurs weren't committing acts of terror in our cities. Oh, but our leaders tell us they were about to at any second. That's why we struck first. What's so striking is how many people appear to accept this uncritically.
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"Just the other day, our intel agencies were considered politically tainted and suspect," Carlson continued. "Keep in mind, these are the people who invented excuses to spy on the Trump campaign, purely because they didn't like the candidate's foreign policy views, and then pretended he was a Russian agent in order to keep him from governing. Remember that interlude?"
Carlson was responding to reports from U.S. officials that described the killing of Soleimani as a defensive measure to prevent an “imminent attack” on U.S. interests in the Middle East following an assault by Iran-backed militiamen against the American Embassy in Baghdad days earlier.
"And by the way, they also lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction back in 2002 and got us into an utterly pointless war that dramatically weakened our country," Carlson went on. "The people pushing conflict with Iran did that."
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"It seems like about 20 minutes ago we were denouncing these people as the 'deep state' and pledging never to trust them again without verification. But now, for some reason, we do trust them, implicitly and completely."
Regime officials in Tehran described the Baghdad airstrike that killed Soleimani as an “extremely provocative move” aimed at escalating tensions. Iranian officials said they reserved all rights “under international law to take necessary measures in this regard, in particular in exercising its inherent right to self-defense.”
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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday warned that a “harsh retaliation is waiting” for the U.S.
"Maybe this will all turn out all right. We're certainly praying for it," Carlson concluded. "But in the meantime, pardon the skepticism."