Intelligence agencies are often blamed when the use of military force has an unexpected or negative outcome. Pundits often argue leaders end up in difficult situations because they are not fully informed, or intelligence agencies got it wrong.

Of course, analysis is sometimes wrong. Intelligence failures do happen and can lead to bad decisions and disastrous outcomes. When intelligence agencies fail, as they did before 9/11, the price is steep. But, more often than not, intelligence analysis is very good.

Perceived failures are far more likely when political leaders manipulate, ignore or even revise intelligence findings for their own purposes.

The Donald Trump administration appears to be playing politics with intelligence regarding the ongoing United States-Israel war in Iran. Tulsi Gabbard, the current director of national intelligence, told U.S. congress last week that the judgment of whether Iran posed an imminent threat belonged to the president.

This statement exposes how intelligence was politicized and various agencies ignored in the lead-up to the conflict.

Intelligence agencies

Modern intelligence agencies resulted from difficult experiences; the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), for example, was only established in 1947, six years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. had sufficient information to........

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