Former CIA Director: Trump's strikes on Iran are a catastrophic mistake, there was no imminent threat to the US

(Patria) - Former CIA Director John Brennan said that President Donald Trump's military strikes on Iran are a "drastically bad mistake." In an appearance on "The Weeknight" on MS NOW, Brennan compared the attacks to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, which he claims caused decades of chaos.

"I think this is the second time this century that the United States has made a catastrophic mistake by engaging in a conflict in the Middle East. The first time was in 2003 when we invaded Iraq, which caused years and years of chaos, violence and terrorism," Brennan said.

"That led to the rise of ISIS, and we are still recovering from 20 years of that mess. Now we are launching this major attack on Iran, a very large country, significantly larger than Iraq," he added.

"What we have seen in recent days are devastating attacks on Iran and the Iranian government. The Iranian regime is currently not backing down, and therefore it is attacking nearby targets with all available means, whether they are US bases or Gulf Arab states."

"We are witnessing a tragic, senseless and unnecessary loss of life. As Senator Warner said, there was no imminent threat," Brennan continued.

"I think it is clear that the administration is now making things up to try to justify what is happening."

"What is clear to me is that Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long coveted such a military operation against Iran, has managed to win over Trump and drag him into something like this," concluded Brennan, who served as head of the CIA from 2013 to 2017.