There was no intelligence

Joe Kent, the Trump administration's counterterrorism chief, abruptly resigned and told Tucker Carlson there was "no intelligence" suggesting Iran was preparing a Pearl Harbor or 9/11-style attack. He said he felt Israel had pulled the US into the conflict and was "broadly influencing American policy in the Middle East." Trump called him "very weak on security" and said his departure was "a good thing."

Kent is not a progressive dissident. He is a decorated army veteran, a former Green Beret with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and a congressional candidate backed by the most Trumpist wing of the Republican Party. His "America First" credentials are impeccable. That is why his accusation carries weight: he is exactly the kind of official who should have supported the war if the justification were sound.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the Senate the Iranian regime "appears to be intact, although largely degraded". That is not the language of imminent victory. The war was sold as a pre-emptive action against an existential threat. Twenty days later, the official tasked with evaluating those threats says they did not exist, and the intelligence chief says the regime still stands. These are the cracks that appear when a war lasts longer than planned.