What they are saying about the U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities

After announcing last week that he would decide within two weeks whether to directly involve the U.S. military in Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, President Trump gave the green light Saturday to a sophisticated and secret operation, codenamed "Midnight Hammer," to have B-2 bombers from Missouri's Whiteman Air Force Base drop 14 30,000 pound 'bunker-buster' bombs on three nuclear facilities: Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz. While a precise assessment of the damage has not been made public, President Trump says the bombs "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program. A preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which falls under the Pentagon, was leaked to the media and suggested the attack did not do as much damage as the president claimed -- that Iran's nuclear program had only been set back a few months. Trump and members of his Cabinet say this is wrong and point out the report also notes that its conclusions are preliminary and low-confidence.

As provided by the White House, here is what some people are saying about the U.S. operation:

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi: “Given the power of these devices and the technical characteristics of a centrifuge, we already know that these centrifuges are no longer operational, because they are fairly precise machines: there are rotors, and the vibrations [from the bombs] have completely destroyed them.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe: “CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes. This includes new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.”

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: “New intelligence confirms what @POTUS has stated numerous times: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed. If the Iranians chose to rebuild, they would have to rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan) entirely, which would likely take years to do. The propaganda media has deployed their usual tactic: selectively release portions of illegally leaked classified intelligence assessments (intentionally leaving out the fact that the assessment was written with “low confidence”) to try to undermine President Trump’s decisive leadership and the brave servicemen and women who flawlessly executed a truly historic mission to keep the American people safe and secure.”

Former ODNI National Intelligence Manager for Iran Norman Roule: “I am confident that Iran has suffered a catastrophic — catastrophic — blow … and that this has set them back for a very, very long time.”

Institute for Science and International Security President David Albright: “Iran can’t make centrifuges and can’t produce, in a sense, the equivalent of the gas … so their program is severely damaged.”

President Trump: “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term! The white structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame. The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!”

Israel Atomic Energy Commission: “The devastating US strike on Fordo destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable. We assess that the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran’s military nuclear program, has set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years. The achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material.”

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir: “I can say here that the assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, and I can also say that we set it back by years, I repeat, years.”

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei: “Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure.”

Former White House Counsel Gregory Craig: "Ultimately, Trump’s decision to bomb Iran increases the risk that Tehran will cross the nuclear threshold. Imposing controls on Iran from the outside is simply unsustainable; it is the worst possible path to follow when it comes to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and would require continual use of force and coercion on an unwilling Iranian nation."

House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA): "It is completely unacceptable that Congress has not been briefed on this in a timely fashion. Launching an attack without congressional authorization is wrong, and launching a potentially unsuccessful attack without congressional authorization would be an administration-defining failure.”