Transcript

6.24.25 · Washington Post

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Tuesday,
0:04
June twenty fourth, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, Radio
0:09
I is a reading service intended for people who are
0:12
blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
0:15
read printed material. Your reader for to day is Cindy Fraser.
0:20
To day's front page headlines from the Washington Post are
0:24
after retaliation, hope for cease fire, missiles fired at US
0:28
base in Qatar, Trump claims agreement between Iran Israel. Next
0:35
a warning to a top general, you have twelve hours
0:38
to escape. Our next headline net Yahoo decided on strikes
0:43
months ago. Officials say next, removals to third countries can
0:50
go on. Supreme Court allows deportation policy while litigation continues.
0:56
Our next headline, after years of service trans gender troops
1:00
being forced out ten facing Trump's Administration's ban, agonized over
1:05
the careers or on the brink of losing. And the
1:09
final headline from today's front page in New York Cuomo
1:13
finds many eager to offer second chance. Now, let's turn
1:17
to our first item, entitled after retaliation, hope for ceasefire
1:23
missiles fired at US base in Guitar. Trump claims agreement
1:28
between Iran Israel by Kareem Fahim, Yagana Torbadi, Jerry She
1:35
and Rachel Pannitt from Eastanbul. President Donald Trump claimed in
1:40
a social media post Monday that Iran and Israel have
1:43
agreed to a cease fire, hours after Iran fired missiles
1:47
toward an American air base in Guitar, retaliating for U
1:51
S strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities with a less than
1:55
furious attack that caused no casualties. There was no immediate
1:59
corroba announcement from the Israeli government. Iran's top diplomat said
2:05
that Iran's military had halted its operations, but appeared to
2:09
take issue with the framing of the U S announcement,
2:12
writing on social media that there had been no agreement
2:15
on ceasefire or cessation of military operations. Trump's announcement followed
2:21
a streak of social media posts in which he thanked
2:24
Iran for quote giving US early notice on the missile attack,
2:28
while also calling it a very weak response. A day earlier,
2:33
he floated the possibility of regime change in Iran, prompting
2:37
White House officials to later explain that the official U
2:41
S posture that he did not strike the Iranian nuclear
2:44
sides to bring about a regime change had not changed.
2:48
With no coordinated statements from Iran in Israel, the contours
2:52
of what was agreed on were not fully clear. In
2:55
posts to social media, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Agraci wrote
3:00
that Iran's military stopped its efforts to punish Israel at
3:04
four a m. Local time, but said that Israel must
3:08
do the same. The final decision on the cessation of
3:12
our military operations will be made later. Agratchi wrote. Trump's
3:17
original announcement had called for the cease fire to be
3:20
phased in, with Iran halting attacks first and Israel following
3:25
twelve hours later. After a further twelve hours, Trump wrote,
3:29
the war will be considered ended. Iran's armed forces hailed
3:34
the assault on Aludid Air Base on Monday as decisive.
3:39
Ann said it sent a message that the country would
3:41
answer any aggression. Gatar condemned the attack, calling it a
3:46
flagrant violation of sovereignty, and said the missiles were intercepted.
3:51
Several Persian Gulf states closed their airspace after the attack,
3:54
amid uncertainty about whether more would follow, but Iran had
3:59
given numerous its public warnings that it intended to retaliate
4:02
against US bases in the region, and there were several
4:06
signs that a telegraph the strike on the air base
4:08
more directly in advance. Hours before, the United States and
4:13
Britain issued warnings telling their citizens to shelter in place,
4:17
and Qatar closed the airspace above its country. US defense
4:21
officials said there were no American casualties in the attack
4:25
on Aludid, which involved short and medium range ballistic missiles
4:29
fired from Iran. It remained to be seen whether Monday's
4:33
events would in fact provide Washington and Tehran and off
4:37
ramped from their intensifying confrontation. After the country's initial Bellico statements,
4:43
iran Supreme National Security Council framed the attack as limited
4:47
and proportional, saying it had used the same number of
4:51
munitions the United States had deployed against Iran over the
4:54
weekend and targeted a bays far from urban facilities and
4:58
residential areas in Guitar. According to the Tasanine News Agency,
5:04
Trump also seemed to damplay the attack. Iran has officially
5:08
responded to our obliteration of the nuclear facilities with a
5:12
very weak response, which we expected, he wrote, I am
5:15
pleased to report that no Americans were harmed and hardly
5:19
any damage was done. Most importantly, they've gotten it all
5:23
out of their system and there will hopefully be no
5:26
further hate writing on too social Later Monday, Trump said
5:31
Iran and Israel had agreed to a complete and total
5:34
cease fire, which would begin when Israel and Iran have
5:38
wound down and completed their in progress final missions. Officially,
5:42
Iran will start the cease fire, and upon the twelfth hour,
5:46
Israel will slog the sea's fire, and upon the twenty
5:49
fourth hour, an official end to the twelve day war
5:52
will be saluted by the world, he added. A senior
5:56
US official said the blueprint from monday ceasefire agreement came
6:00
from discussions with Iranian officials, who made it clear to
6:03
the Trump administration that they would come back to the
6:06
negotiating table and discuss their nuclear program on the condition
6:10
that Israel stops bombing them. That required the United States
6:14
to secure agreement from Israeli Prime Minister and Benjamin nat
6:17
Nyahou to halt his bombing campaign. The official said, an
6:22
onslaught that is wreak havoc on Iran's missile defenses. The
6:26
official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive
6:29
diplomatic matters. Netniahu's office did not immediately respond to a
6:34
request for comment. A senior White House official, speaking on
6:38
the condition of anonymity to brief the media, said the
6:41
Vice President J. D Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
6:45
and Special Envoy Steve Whitcock had communicated with the Iranians
6:49
through direct and indirect channels. Trump had also thanked the
6:53
Emir Qatar for his country's efforts to broke her peace.
6:56
The official said. Ahead of Trump's sea fire announcement, there
7:01
had been no let up in the war between Israel
7:03
and Iran. An Iranian missile attack against Israel early in
7:07
the day sparked panic but caused no casualties. Later, Israel
7:12
carried out what it said were its most extensive strikes
7:15
yet against the Iranian capital, broadening its targets beyond nuclear
7:20
and ballistic missile sites and hitting security forces critical to
7:24
the survival of the government in Tehran. The targets included
7:28
command centers and assets belonging to the Iranian regime's internal
7:32
security apparatus, as well as in prison, where thousands of
7:36
political prisoners are held, and Israeli military spokesman said. Israel
7:41
also struck the entrances to the ford Own nuclear enrichment facility,
7:45
according to Iranian and Israeli officials, aiming to prevent the
7:49
transfer of materials from the site. And Israeli officials said
7:53
the decision to widen the target list, including by attacking
7:57
the headquarters of the Bajij, a volunteer paramilitary force the
8:01
government uses to repress dissent, was the latest sign of
8:05
Israel's effort to destabilize or topple Iran's clerical leadership. Israeli
8:10
officials have said regime change is not an objective of
8:13
their campaign, while simultaneously encouraging Iranians to rise up against
8:18
their increasingly battered government. We believe that there is an
8:23
opportunity now for them to throw off the fear which
8:26
has been hoisted upon them by the Iranian regime, said
8:29
David Menzer, an Israeli government spokesman. Israel had commenced its
8:34
attack on Iran earlier this month by killing a top
8:37
echelon of Iranian commanders and degrading the nuclear and ballistic
8:42
missile programs. Setting the table for the USB two bomber
8:45
strike on three facilities over the weekend. Net Nyahu said
8:49
Sunday that Israel was very very close to completing its
8:53
goal of eliminating two concrete threats to our existence, the
8:57
nuclear threat the ballistic missile threat. But on Monday, the
9:02
Israel Defense Forces released his statement saying it would continue
9:06
to bomb Tehran in the coming days, while ordering residents
9:09
to avoid weapons production centers, military basis, and security institutions
9:15
affiliated with the regime. The shift in Israeli targeting came
9:19
amid uncertainty about whether it had achieved one of its
9:23
main objectives, the destruction of Iran's nuclear program, given a
9:27
lack of clarity about what had become of its stockpile
9:30
of highly enriched uranium after the U S attacks. Seed Alivaiz,
9:35
the Iran Project director at the International Crisis Group, when
9:39
it came to regime destabilization, the expectation that Iranians would
9:44
rise up in protest of the government during the Israeli
9:47
strikes represented magical thinking. He added, there has not been
9:52
a single protest against the regime and Israel's targeting of
9:57
a then prison where dissidents a among them, the best
10:01
of the best Iranian activists were locked up, where their
10:04
families now fearing for their lives was indicative of Israel's
10:08
short sighted strategy, he said. Jonathan Pennakoff, a former senior
10:13
intelligence official overseeing the Middle East during the previous Trump administration,
10:17
said the Israeli attack on the prison certainly sends a
10:21
message to the regime that it should not feel secure
10:24
and stable, and implicitly also reflects a clear willingness of
10:28
Prime Minister Netnyahu to engage in Mission Creek. But I
10:33
don't know if it actually made a decision that regime
10:36
change is now an actual strategic objective, he added. Israel
10:41
said it hit of In prison with a precision strike.
10:44
The Center for Human Rights and Iran, which frequently reports
10:48
on government violations, said in his statement that the strike
10:51
caused severe damage to critical areas, including the women's ward,
10:56
Ward eight, the infirmary, and the Prosecutor's office. Prisoners, among
11:02
them women and children under two years old, are trapped
11:05
without access to medical care, safe shelter, or essential services,
11:09
the group said, adding that Iranian authorities were refusing to
11:14
transfer the injured to hospitals and are blocking families from
11:17
reaching their loved ones. Instead of facilitating rescue and medical aid,
11:22
Iranian security forces have intensified repression inside the prison, threatening
11:27
and attacking injured detainees. Unconfirmed reports of secret prisoner transfers
11:33
are raising fears of enforced disappearances, the statement added. Hakmand Gadiani,
11:39
the son of political prisoner Abafasilgadiani, who was held inside it,
11:43
then said on x that his father told him in
11:47
a phone call that all the windows in the ward
11:49
have been broken, and he believed there was damage to
11:52
the complex's health facility and the prison door. Israel said
11:56
it strikes Monday hit the Revolutionary Guards Zerlak Command Center,
12:01
which is charged with securing Tehran and its surrounding area
12:04
in times of civil unrest and is considered one of
12:08
the Guard's most important component parts. Its forces arrest, interrogate,
12:13
and beat dissidents. Israel also said it struck the headquarters
12:18
of the Basiege, which Iranians and human rights groups have
12:21
accused of a wide array of rights violations, including beating
12:26
peaceful demonstrators and shooting into crowds. The besiege have branches
12:31
across an array of Iranian institutions, including universities, schools and workplaces.
12:38
The Israeli military also said it struck six airports across
12:41
Iran and damaged runways, underground bunkers, and older generation fighter jets,
12:47
including at fourteens. An Israeli military official, speaking on the
12:51
condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing military operations, acknowledged that
12:56
these older jets did not pose a significant threat to
12:59
Israel's mind modern fighters, but he said Israel wanted to
13:03
not just set back around nuclear and ballistic missile programs,
13:07
but also degrade its military capabilities. There is still a
13:11
regime that can still pose some threats, the official said.
13:15
Torbadi reported from Washington, She from Jerusalem, and Pennette from Wellington,
13:20
New Zealand. Leorsaroka in Tel Aviv, Abbe Cheeseman in Beirut,
13:25
and Adam Taylor, John Hudson, Alex Horton, Angioralana Armandez and
13:31
Karen de Young in Washington contributed to this report. Next
13:36
is an item entitled a warning to a top general
13:40
you have twelve hours to escape by Warren P. Struble,
13:44
Sawad mckenneth, and Yegeney Torbati. In the hours after Israel
13:50
launched its first wave of strikes against Iran on June thirteenth,
13:53
killing top military leaders and nuclear scientists. Israeli intelligence operatives
13:58
launched a covert camp to intimidate senior officials with the
14:02
apparent aim of dividing and destabilizing Tran's theocratic regime. According
14:07
to three people familiar with the operation, people working for
14:12
israel security services who speak Persian, Iran's primary language, called
14:16
senior Iranian officials on their cell phones and warned them
14:20
that they too would die unless they cease supporting the
14:23
regime of Iotola Ali Khamani, iran supreme leader. According to
14:28
the three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity
14:31
to discuss clandestine operations, one of them estimated that more
14:36
than twenty Iranians and positions of power were contacted. The
14:40
Washington Post obtained an audio recording and transcript of one
14:44
such call, which took place the same day, June thirteenth,
14:47
that Israel began its bombardment of Iran. I can advise
14:52
you now. You have twelve hours to escape with your
14:55
wife and child. Otherwise you're on our list right now,
14:59
an Israelian telligence operative told a senior Iranian general close
15:03
to the country's rulers. According to the audio recording. The
15:07
operative then suggested that Israel could train weapons on the
15:10
general and his family at any moment. We're closer to
15:14
you than your own neck. Veane, put this in your head.
15:17
May God protect you, he said. The general, a member
15:21
of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was told he
15:25
had twelve hours to make a video disassociating himself from
15:29
the Iranian government. How should I send it to you?
15:32
The general replies, I will send you a telegram ideed,
15:36
the operative says, referring to the telegram messaging app, send it.
15:41
It is unclear whether such a video was made or sent.
15:44
The general is believed to be still alive and in Iran,
15:47
said one of the people familiar with the operation, But
15:50
the primary goal of the operation was to deter and
15:54
confuse that Hahran leadership, a second person said Israeli Prime
15:59
Minister Benjamin neh Ya, whose office did not reply to
16:02
a request for comment. The audio recording and an English
16:06
language transcript were made available by an Israeli individual who
16:09
obtained the material and shared it with the Post, along
16:12
with the description of a second such call to another
16:15
senior Iranian official close to Khamenie. The Post prepared its
16:20
own English language transcript of the nearly four minute audio
16:23
recording of the conversation, which was conducted in Persian. The
16:28
individual who provided the recording said the content of the
16:31
audio was not manipulated in any way other than to
16:35
mask the voice of the Israeli intelligence operative to protect
16:38
his identity. The Post obtained the Iranian general's name, but
16:42
is not publishing it and has removed his voice from
16:45
the recording to conceal his identity. The phone calls to
16:49
top Iranian military and security figures were one note of
16:53
what Israeli security officials have described as a broad covert
16:57
action campaign that complimented is Israel's military assault of nuclear sites,
17:02
weapons production facilities, and missile launchers. The overall operation, dubbed
17:08
Rising Lion by the Israeli government, relied on the activation
17:12
of clandestine intelligence teams, prepositioned weapons caches, and other capabilities
17:18
that had lain dormant inside Iranian territory for weeks or
17:21
even months, Israeli officials said. Net Nyahu said, Israel launched
17:26
the Surprise operation now in its second week, to prevent
17:30
Iran from building a nuclear weapon. The Israeli government said
17:34
that in recent months, Iran was getting closer to being
17:37
able to turn its stockpile of enriched uranium into a
17:41
nuclear weapon. Israel has offered no new, detailed evidence of
17:45
Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions or weaponization efforts. Current and former
17:51
US officials said that while they have intelligence that Iran
17:54
was researching techniques that would allow it to build a
17:57
crude nuclear device quickly if it chose to, there was
18:00
no sign it had made a decision to acquire an
18:03
atomic bomb. President Donald Trump ordered a multi pronged attack
18:08
on Iran's nuclear sites this weekend, using earth penetrating ordinance
18:13
dropped from B two Spirit bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles
18:16
launched from submarines. The weapons struck the deeply buried uranium
18:21
and Richmond facility at Fordo, as well as nuclear sides
18:24
at Antanz and Ishahan. Top Pentagon officials said the three
18:29
sides suffered severe damage, but added that it was too
18:33
soon to say whether Iran retained some nuclear capability. The
18:38
U s military strikes came eight days after Israel launched
18:41
its assault on Iran in the opening hours of Israel's attack,
18:46
members of Kamanese inner circle and top figures in Iran's
18:49
nuclear brain trust were killed, in some cases apparent casualties
18:53
of explosives, packed drones or other devices that blew holes
18:57
in the sides of apartment high rises and other structures
19:00
in central Tehran. According to Israelian western security officials, as
19:05
well as regime statements unknown casualties. Those targeted and believed
19:10
killed included Major General Jossin Salomi, commander of the IRGC,
19:16
Major General Mohammad Bakheri, and IRGC veteran who was the
19:20
chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, and Veria dun
19:24
Abbasi d'avani, a nuclear physicist and major figure in Iran's
19:28
nuclear development. The Israeli operator that emphasized those assassinations in
19:33
his phone call to the Iraignian general, I'll explain to
19:36
you listen carefully on calling from a country that two
19:40
hours ago sent Bakheri, Salami, Shanghmankhani one by one to Hell,
19:46
the operative tells a general. The operatist's list of the
19:50
dead include Vice Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the former head of
19:54
iran Supreme National Security Council, Iranian media reported last week
19:58
that Shamkhani was seriously injured, had survived in Israeli attack
20:03
and sent a message to Kamani promising that the dawn
20:06
of victory is near where Iran Israel hash on before
20:11
that it has the ability to conduct targeted assassinations in Tehran.
20:15
In July, it killed the leader of ramas Ismaeil Hanaiye,
20:20
using an explosive device smuggled inside the state run guest
20:23
house where Haniye was staying in the Iranian capital. The
20:27
covert intimidation campaign against key Iranian figures who survived or
20:32
were not targeted in the initial round of Israeli strikes
20:36
involved several of Israel's security and military agencies, and was
20:40
aimed at striking fear into second and third tier figures.
20:44
According to two of the people familiar with the operation,
20:48
the goal was to make it harder for Khamani, who
20:50
controls Araan's national security policy, to fill the positions of
20:54
those Israel killed, the second tier leadership that is supposed
20:58
to inherit the positions and now feel in those places
21:01
of those who have been eliminated, they are terrified, said
21:05
one of the people familiar with the operation. And they
21:07
are being reminded on a personal level about what happened
21:11
to the successor of Nazralla and the successors of Hesbolah
21:15
commanders who were eliminated as well. The official referred to
21:19
Hassan Nozrala, the leader of Iranian backed Hezbolah in Lebanon,
21:23
whom Israel assassinated in an air strike in September. Israel
21:27
later killed Nozraala's likely successor, Kamenee, is facing serious difficulties
21:33
to nominate successors for the positions of officials that were
21:36
eliminated in the operation, the official said, and even if
21:40
he succeeds to do so, these are people he didn't
21:44
choose in the first place, because the more serious ones
21:47
are refusing to take the positions now. Western security officials
21:51
say they have not seen indications of defections among high
21:55
ranking members of Iran's military or the IRGC. The Israeli
22:00
officials said that some senior Iranian figures received a warning
22:04
letter under their door, some received a phone call directly,
22:08
and others were contacted via their spouses. They fully understand
22:12
that they are transparent and known to us, and that
22:15
our intelligence penetration is one hundred percent. Some of the
22:19
senior Iranian officials have been contacted several times, resulting in
22:23
a dialog between them and Israeli intelligence. One of the
22:27
people familiar with the operations, said Greg Miller in London.
22:31
Contributed to this report video and audio editing by Zoann
22:35
Murphy and hoijun Kin next. Net Yahoo decided on strikes
22:42
months ago, officials said by Jerry she Warren P. Struble
22:47
and Sawad mc kenneth from Jerusalem. In the fall, long
22:52
before President Donald Trump embarked on an effort to resolve
22:55
concerns over Iran's nuclear program through negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin
23:00
Netnyahoo had already set Israel on the road to war,
23:04
according to current and former Israeli officials, After Israel decimated
23:09
Iran's air defenses in a missile skirmish and crippled its
23:12
main ally Hasbolat in October, nen Yahoo issued a general
23:17
order to prepare for a strike, The current and former
23:20
officials said. Israeli intelligence officials began huddling to compile lists
23:25
of dozens of Iranian nuclear scientists and military leaders who
23:29
could be targeted for assassination. Israel's air force began to
23:33
systematically take out air defenses in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq
23:38
to clear the skies for future bombing runs against Iran. Meanwhile,
23:43
Israeli officials were pursuing another track in their preparations to
23:47
sway Washington. Israeli officials had long believed that military action
23:52
with US participation to target the Iranian nuclear program would
23:56
be more effective than Israel going alone. On Saturday, Trump
24:01
indeed joined the conflict, ordering U S forces, including B
24:05
two strategic bombers, to strike three Iranian nuclear sites. Throughout
24:11
the fall. The Israelis had met with their Biden administration
24:14
counterparts to discuss intelligence collected by both countries in the
24:18
summer that showed Iranian nuclear scientists were gathering to resume
24:22
theoretical research on weaponization, according to three people with knowledge
24:26
of the matter, but U S intelligence analysts did not
24:30
conclude that the Iranian leadership had made such a decision,
24:34
an assessment U S by agencies revisited and maintained throughout
24:38
the spring under the new Trump administration and up until
24:42
the time Israel launch strikes, said five people familiar with
24:46
the conclusions in private conversations. However, senior Israeli government officials
24:52
said they had already decided by March, weeks before Annett
24:56
Yahoo met Trump and the Oval Office on April seventh,
25:00
to strike Iran with or without US participation by June
25:05
at the latest, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
25:09
The reasoning was that Iran would have rebuilt its air
25:11
defenses by the latter half of the year, one of
25:14
the people said. Ultimately, when net Nyahu finally launched his
25:19
surprise attack on Iran in the early hours of June thirteenth,
25:23
while Trump's negotiations were still under way, the decision was
25:27
not so much driven by new intelligence indicating an Iranian
25:30
sprint for a nuclear weapon or any eminent threat to Israel. Rather,
25:36
Israel seized on what it saw as a unique opportunity
25:39
to execute plans carefully laid months and years in advance
25:44
to heavily damage a weakened Iran that had long waged
25:47
a bloody proxy conflict with Israel, and to set back
25:51
Iranian nuclear and missile programs. Israeli and U s officials
25:55
and advisers to both governments say whether or not net Yahu,
26:00
who had enough evidence of Iranian progress toward a nuclear
26:03
weapon to justify an attack has been the subject of
26:06
intense debate globally and raises questions about the strike's permissibility
26:11
under international law. In recent days, the issue has appeared
26:15
to generate friction inside the US administration, with Trump repeatedly
26:20
dismissing the assessment delivered in March by Director of National
26:23
Intelligence Tulsey Gabbard that Iran's leadership has not ordered the
26:28
development of a nuclear weapon, and telling reporters that he
26:31
personally believed that Iran was very close to a bomb.
26:35
Net Yahoo, who has argued for decades that Iran was
26:39
on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons and should be
26:41
halted by military strikes, has acknowledged in recent interviews that
26:46
Iran was still months or a year away from a weapon.
26:50
What was undisputed, he has said, was that Iran had
26:53
enriched large amounts of Uranian to a level well beyond
26:57
what is required for civilian use, and built up a
27:00
dangerous arsenal of ballistic missiles. Israel's calculus for attacking Iran
27:06
was driven by a sense of both opportunity and necessity,
27:10
said an Israeli official, who, like many others quoted in
27:14
this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss
27:17
internal deliberations. It is true, there was no better time.
27:22
Israelis have never been more well practiced, and Iran and
27:26
their proxies have never been weaker, said the Israeli official.
27:30
But that's not enough for us to operate. The reason
27:33
we operated is necessity and understanding. There is no alternative.
27:38
What if they break out toward a nuclear weapon and
27:41
there is no way for us to notice? There is
27:43
no safety zone left. US intelligence agencies, beginning late last
27:48
year picked up on Israeli preparations for an attack and
27:52
warned Washington policy makers that Israel was likely to strike
27:56
in the first six months of twenty twenty five, but
28:01
Namiyahu's plan was unexpectedly delayed when he was summoned to
28:05
Washington to meet Trump and told that the United States
28:08
would enter direct negotiations with Iran to solve the problem diplomatically.
28:13
The Prime Minister's strong inclination to strike, however, remained unchanged,
28:18
said a person with knowledge of the thinking of top
28:21
Israeli officials. Going into the spring. There was also concern
28:26
among Israeli officials that any potential deal between Trump Envoy
28:30
Steve Whitcock and Iran would still allow Iran to eventually
28:34
possess a bomb, an Israeli official added, and a former
28:39
senior Israeli official said these Raelis had been anticipating the
28:43
scheduled retirement of General Michael E. Krilla, the U S
28:47
Central Command chief, who had helped make war plans with
28:50
Israel throughout the spring. In an interview Tuesday with pro
28:54
government Channel fourteen television, Netanyahu said that he had decided
28:59
on the exact timing of the strike only two weeks earlier,
29:03
but that he had made the difficult decision to carry
29:06
out the operation several months ago and began flushing out
29:10
the plan and its element of surprise in April. The
29:14
key was to eliminate the nuclear experts, Netnyahu said, those
29:19
were my instructions. Were going after the scientists take them out.
29:24
In Israel, the majority of the security establishment and political
29:27
parties have supported Netanyahu's decision to execute what they consider
29:32
a preventive strike. For decades, a bedrock of Israeli strategic
29:37
thinking has been the Began doctrine, named after former Prime
29:41
Minister Marchem Begen, who defended Israel's nineteen eighty one bombing
29:45
of the ossyric nuclear reactor in Iraq as anticipatory self
29:50
defense against the potential enemy making a weapon of mass destruction.
29:55
But a minority of those have questioned the wisdom of
29:59
carrying out as prize attack while TROMP was still pursuing
30:02
a diplomatic rap and they say without proofs that the
30:07
Iranians had decided to construct a nuclear weapon, we should
30:11
have given the political rout chance, said Danny Satrinovitch, a
30:15
former head of the Iran desk in the Research Department
30:18
of Israeli Military Intelligence. Now we got operational achievements, but
30:23
the risks are enormous. We've never fought with a country
30:27
like Erran. We find ourselves not knowing where the highly
30:31
enriched uranium or centrifuges are. If we had an agreement,
30:35
we would at least have less unknowns. Since Trump pulled
30:39
out of the Obama era nuclear deal with Iran in
30:42
twenty eighteen, Iran has sharply increased its stockpile of near
30:46
weapons grade enriched uranium, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency,
30:52
but intelligence agencies have debated whether Iran has resumed its
30:56
effort to build a weapon known as Project Ahmad that
31:00
was halted by Iyotola Ali Kamani, a reigned Supreme leader
31:04
in two thousand three. Last year, U S intelligence officials,
31:09
including CIA Director William J. Burns, reviewed new intelligence and
31:14
concluded that Iranian scientists were revisiting previously suspended nuclear weapons research,
31:20
exploring pasts that could allow them to more quickly make
31:24
the leap to a crude nuclear bomb if Kamanie so chose.
31:29
Three people familiar with the matter, said Israeli officials then
31:33
came to the same realization. But U S Intelligence officials
31:37
did not conclude that Khamani had changed his stands and
31:41
sanctioned a bomb, said former U S and Israeli officials
31:44
with knowledge of the matter. We knew they could speed
31:47
up their timeline if they decided to change course, A
31:50
former senior US official said. The Israelis were more alarmed.
31:55
The main difference between US and Israeli views was tactical
31:59
and not substantial, said a senior Israeli officials. We did
32:03
see that Iran was advancing with a project, the Israeli
32:06
officials added. It was unlike Iran had a timeline, but
32:10
the route that they had chosen was very concerning and dangerous,
32:14
and some of the experts here had huge concerns. Jacob Noguel,
32:19
a long time adviser to Netanyahu on Iranian nuclear issues
32:23
and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies,
32:27
said Iranian scientists were working in academic settings, and there
32:31
was never a smoking gun showing they had broken new
32:34
ground on aspects of weaponization that were prohibited under the
32:38
twenty fifteen Nuclear Agreement, such as a multi point detonation
32:42
device used to trigger a nuclear explosion. But they were
32:46
conducting research seemingly surreptitiously on topics that were difficult to
32:50
justify as having only civilian applications, Neguel said. He added
32:55
that Khamani probably knew what they were doing. At one point,
33:00
the Biden administration asked Ron about the scientist's activities, but
33:04
the scientists carried on, which further fueled Israeli suspicions going
33:08
into the spring, Nagel and another Israeli official said, as
33:13
Israeli officials geared up in recent months to strike, while
33:16
hoping the US would join, Israel made another push with
33:20
the Trump administration as part of regular intelligence sharing, US
33:25
intelligence officials did not see anything startlingly new, According to
33:29
two people with knowledge of the matter, but Israeli officials
33:33
believed intelligence showed the scientists were revisiting studies in several
33:37
alarming areas, including the multi point detonation device, the production
33:42
of plastic explosives, and experiments on neutron radiation. According to
33:47
one person who was briefed by Israeli officials in recent weeks,
33:51
Israeli officials acknowledged that they still assessed Kamani had not
33:55
ordered the production of a nuclear weapon, the person said, adding,
34:00
I don't believe the Israeli intelligence community shaded their intel
34:04
for political purposes, but I do believe in netnyahou taking
34:08
the inch and running a mile with it. In Washington,
34:12
Trump came to believe that Iran was striving for a bomb,
34:15
going beyond what Annalis in his own intelligence agencies concluded.
34:20
His c i A chief John Ratcliffe, argued that the
34:23
assessment dating back to two thousand seven that Commony had
34:27
not ordered construction of a nuclear weapon was of limited value,
34:31
said two people familiar with Rackless views. Ran he said,
34:35
was like a football team that had gone ninety nine
34:37
yards down the field and there was no way it
34:40
would not try for a nuclear touchdown. Era Levit, a
34:45
former senior Israeli national security official overseeing arms control, said
34:50
it was reasonable to reach different analytical conclusions while working
34:54
from the same set of collected intelligence. This is really
34:57
hair splitting, said Levite, who was now at the Carnegie
35:01
Endowment for International Peace. You haven't seen them packaging the warhead,
35:06
but you've seen them working on shortening the period it
35:08
would take to put it together and drive their threshold
35:11
status to the extreme proximity to nuclear weapons. Does that
35:15
reflect a decision was already made by the Supreme leader
35:18
of let's go there, or was it merely raising preparedness
35:22
to do so. It leaves things in the realm of interpretation.
35:26
Richard Nephew, a lead US negotiator with Iran under the
35:30
Obama administration, said the real division appears not to have
35:34
been between US and Israeli intelligence analysts, but between the
35:38
spies and the politicians who interpreted the intelligence in a
35:42
more alarming fashion. It may be that the US and
35:46
Israeli intelligence services were on the same page, but they
35:50
weren't on the same page as our political leadership, said Nephew,
35:54
now at the Washington Institute. For Nieri's Policy Nephew said
35:58
it was not surprising that a Ron would edge back
36:01
toward the option of a BOB after suffering a series
36:04
of strategic setbacks. By last fall, Israel had dealt staggering
36:09
blows to allied Iranian groups such as Hamas and Lebanon
36:13
based Hasbola, and had destroyed much of Iron's air defenses
36:17
in air strikes in October, leaving it largely exposed. In
36:22
recent months, Israeli intelligence officers were tracking the locations of
36:27
various members of the scientists group, and Israeli Air Force
36:30
pilots were training to simultaneously strike the Iranian scientists and
36:35
military officers in their homes, and Israeli officials said by
36:39
this month, Israeli pilots had honed their capability to use
36:43
new software ammunitions to carry out dozens of strikes simultaneously,
36:48
a capability they did not possess even a few years ago,
36:52
said Matan Kahana, an Israeli lawmaker who was an air
36:55
squadron commander. And Israeli officials said that Israel's ex external
37:00
intelligence service, the Massad, had spent years collecting intelligence about
37:05
each of the scientists who would be targeted for assassination
37:09
and their roles in Iran's nuclear programs. Much of the
37:13
agency's knowledge about the Iranian program came from agents who
37:17
were recruited and handled by the Massad and worked inside
37:21
the Natans and Pordo facilities. The Massad also unfurled an
37:26
elaborate covert mission that included smuggling and installing Kamakazi drones
37:31
and missile launchers inside Iran itself, and Israeli officials said
37:36
there was a risk that the covert operation could have
37:38
been discovered, and that consideration partly influenced the timing of
37:43
the June thirteenth attack, but not Netnahu's strategic decision made
37:47
months earlier to set it in motion. Israeli government officials
37:51
and advisers said today the question of what intelligence is
37:56
real possessed about the activities of the Iranian scientists is
37:59
not relevant any more after net Yahoo decided to carry
38:03
out their assassination and to cripple Iran's missile program and
38:07
military leadership. Miguel argued, since June thirteenth, Israel has killed
38:13
ten key scientists, and the US and Israeli strikes have
38:17
set back Iran's quest for a bomb Israeli officials say
38:21
all the scientists who are sneaking around. Miguel said most
38:24
of them are now sneaking around in health. Strobol and
38:28
mckenneth reported from Washington. Our next item from today's from
38:33
Page is entitled Removals to third countries can go on.
38:38
Supreme Court allows deportation policy while litigation continues by Anne E. Merrimouth.
38:45
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the
38:48
Trump administration to deport immigrants to countries where they are
38:52
not citizens, temporarily blocking a decision by a lower court
38:56
judge who said migrants must have a meaningful opportunity to
39:00
test their removal. The court's order, which drew a sharp
39:03
descent from the three liberal justices, was the latest of
39:07
several allowing President Donald Trump to move forward with a
39:10
major change in policy while litigation on the issue continues
39:14
in lower courts. Each has been made as part of
39:17
the court's emergency docket, which means they are decided based
39:21
on truncated court filings, not oral arguments, and the justices
39:25
do not always explain their reasoning. As part of Trump's
39:29
mass deportation efforts, the administration has attempted to send groups
39:33
of migrants, some convicted of crimes in the United States,
39:37
to countries other than their own, including to conflict ridden
39:41
South Sudan. Four individuals initially filed a lawsuit in Boston
39:46
on behalf of all migrants potentially subject to third country removals,
39:51
saying they are entitled to notice and an opportunity to
39:54
raise fear based claims before deportation. U S District Judge
39:58
Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts ruled against the administration, temporarily
40:03
barring such deportations. He later said a planned deportation flight
40:08
to Sas Sudan had violated his order. Those migrants has
40:12
since been held in a makeshift detention facility at a
40:15
US naval base in Djibouti, enduring health hazards and the
40:19
threat of rocket attacks. Just As Sonya Sotomayor, joined by
40:24
Justices Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson, wrote a nearly
40:28
twenty page descent criticizing the administration for violating the lower
40:33
court order and trying to send migrants to a nation
40:36
the State Department considers too unsafe for all but its
40:39
most critical personnel. Rather than allowing our lower court colleagues
40:44
to manage this high stakes litigation with the care and
40:47
attention it plainly requires. The liberals wrote, the majority was
40:51
rewarding lawlessness by halting in order the administration has repeatedly defied. Apparently,
40:58
the Court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence
41:01
in far flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility
41:06
that a district court exceeded its remedial powers when it
41:09
ordered the government to provide notice to the targeted migrants
41:12
to the dissent, said the Conservative majorities. One paragraph unsigned
41:17
Stamen did not explain its reasons for pausing Murphy's decision.
41:22
The White House and the Department of Homeland Security claimed victory,
41:26
posting on social media the message fire up the deportation
41:30
planes and a meme of the President doing the celebratory dance.
41:34
In a brief order late Monday, Murphy said the men
41:37
in Djibouti were protected from immediate removal based on a
41:41
separate ruling he previously issued. The Third Country Removals case
41:46
is one of several that have reached the Supreme Court
41:48
involving the Trump administration's aggressive efforts to ramp up deportations
41:53
and restrict legal and illegal immigration. The justices restrained the
41:58
administration in other deportation cases, joining lower courts in chastising
42:03
Trump officials for failing to provide immigrants with sufficient time
42:07
or due process to challenge their removals. But the justices
42:12
also allowed Trump to lift protected status for hundreds of
42:16
thousands of migrants while litigation on the cancelation of their
42:19
programs continues. The court, for example, ordered the administration to
42:25
facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly
42:29
deported to El Salvador despite a court order prohibiting it.
42:34
The government brought him back to the United States this
42:37
month after securing an indictment against him for allegedly transporting
42:41
undocumented migrants in her descent. Monday, Sodomayor suggested that the
42:47
majority's position contradicted its earlier orders that had emphasized that
42:52
migrants cannot be removed without a fair process. George Hewn
42:56
law professor Steve Vladdok, who closely tracks the emergency docket,
43:00
called the order disastrous and scolded the majority for failing
43:05
to address the Trump administration violations of Murphy's order that silence,
43:10
he wrote in his one first newsletter Monday Night, could
43:14
encourage the administration to violate other lower court orders like Soudomayor.
43:20
Vladik noted the court's earlier rulings that migrants are entitled
43:24
to notice and an opportunity to challenge their deportations. He
43:29
said Monday's order effectively allows for countless other migrants to
43:33
be removed to third countries where they have credible arguments
43:37
that they'll be mistreated for no other reason than because
43:40
they've already been held to be removable to some other country.
43:45
Due process apparently matters to these justices on the initial
43:49
removability question, but not beyond that. Attorneys for the migrants
43:55
said the court action leaves thousands of people vulnerable to
43:58
deportation and mistreat. Its trips away critical due process protections
44:04
that have been protecting our class members from torture and death.
44:08
Trinerial Muto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance,
44:13
said in a statement. She emphasized that the broader challenge
44:17
to the administration's policy is still under way in the
44:20
lower courts, adding we now need to move as swiftly
44:24
as possible to conclude the case and restore these protections.
44:28
Tricia McLaughlin, an Assistant Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security,
44:33
said in a statement that the agency can now execute
44:37
its lawful authority and remove illegal aliens to a country
44:40
willing to accept them. Murphy had ordered the government to
44:44
give those targeted for third country deportations up to twenty
44:48
five days to legally challenge their removals. He said the
44:51
deportees also must be interviewed by the government with their
44:56
attorney and interpreter present, to determine whether they qualify pre
45:00
humanitarian protection. In asking the Supreme Court to overturn that ruin,
45:05
Solicitor General d John Sawyer told the justices that the
45:09
US is facing a crisis of illegal immigration, in no
45:13
small part because many aliens most deserving of removal are
45:18
often the hardest to remove. He argued that the lower
45:21
court judge infringed on the executive's authority over deportations and
45:26
imposed an onerous set of procedures for the government to
45:29
assess any claims under the Convention against Torture, which was
45:33
ratified by Congress in nineteen ninety four to bar the U.
45:37
S Government from sending people to countries where they might
45:40
face torture. Attorneys for the immigrants told the justices that
45:44
Murphy went to great lengths to avoid micromanaging the administration's
45:49
compliance with federal law prohibiting such deportations, even of criminals,
45:54
to third countries where they would face persecution or torture.
45:58
They also disputed the administration characterization of the migrants as
46:02
the worst of the worst, saying many of those targeted
46:05
have not been convicted of crimes and initially entered the
46:09
United States legally as refugees or on student or work
46:13
based visas. Murphy has grown increasingly frustrated with the administration's
46:18
responses to his orders, accusing Justice Department lawyers of manufacturing
46:23
the very chaos a to cry as a way to
46:26
evade his instructions. In May, Murphy found that the administration
46:31
had violated his court order by attempting to remove one
46:34
group of migrants who are from Cuba, Vietnam, Myanmar, laws
46:39
and Mexico after federal authorities determined they had committed serious
46:43
crimes and their homelands would not take them. A lawyer
46:47
for the immigrants had urged Murphy to order the government
46:50
to return the men bound for sath Sudan to the
46:53
United States, but the judge declined to order the return,
46:58
saying the Department of Homeland Security could bring them back
47:01
for the interviews or conduct them where the migrants were
47:04
being held. In his filing, Sawyer assured the court that
47:08
under the Convention against Torture, the Administration will not remove
47:12
an alien to any country where he is likely to
47:15
be tortured, i e. The extreme scenario where the alien
47:18
is likely to face severe pain or suffering intentionally inflicted
47:22
by the hand or with the consent of a public official.
47:26
Maria Sacchetti contributed to this report. Next an item entitled
47:32
after years of service, transgender troops being forced out ten
47:37
facing Trump Administration's ban agonized over the careers there on
47:41
the Brink of Losing by Jonathan Edwards, U S Base
47:45
Force Master Sergeant Sabrina Bruce didn't know her life was
47:49
about to change forever when she got into her car
47:52
last month to head to the Pentagon and re enlist
47:55
for another six years. Bruce, thirty four, was excited to
47:59
continue knew a career that had set her on a
48:01
life altering path. She had enlisted in the Air Force
48:05
in twenty thirteen to escape her gender dysphoria. She said,
48:09
referring to the medical term for the distress felt when
48:12
one's sex assigned at birth tis not align with her gender. Instead,
48:16
she found a culture that empowered her to come out
48:19
as a transgender woman. But just before Bruce began the
48:23
drive to her re enlistment ceremony on May sixth, she
48:26
saw the news on her phone. The U. S. Supreme
48:29
Court had ruled the Trump administration could execute plans to
48:34
bar her and thousands of other transgender service members from
48:37
the Armed Forces. Despite her intent to keep serving, Bruce
48:42
realized her military career doing top secret cybersecurity work would
48:47
probably be measured in weeks or months, not years. I
48:51
was in shock, she said, adding I was intending to
48:55
serve out my time and keep working and keep contributing
48:58
to the nation. Bruce started transitioning in twenty seventeen, seven
49:03
months after the military lifted its ban prohibiting transgender troops
49:07
from serving openly. Nine years after that ban ended, the
49:12
same military is now kicking them out. Active duty transgender
49:16
service members faced a June sixth deadline to self report
49:20
their gender dysphoria, which President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary
49:24
Pete Hexath said is incompatible with military service. Trump called
49:29
transgender identity a falsehood that does not comport with the
49:33
humility and selflessness required of a service member. Advocates for
49:38
transgender service members say expelling cyber experts like Bruce and
49:42
others in highly specialized fields pilots, nuclear engineers, intelligence annalysts,
49:48
will harm the military as leaders try to reverse a
49:52
year's long trend of recruiting shortfalls. The Washington Post spoke
49:57
with ten transgender troops as some wrestled with the decision
50:00
to self report by the deadline, others scrambled to find
50:04
new jobs, and all grieved the sudden, unwonted loss of
50:08
a life built around military service. Each of them repudiated
50:12
the Pentagon calling their de facto firings as voluntary separations
50:17
after requiring them to report their gender dysphoria for the
50:21
express purpose of casting them out. This is not a
50:25
voluntary separation. This is separation under distress. This is coercion.
50:31
The U. S. Navy commander Emily Shilling, a fighter pilot
50:34
and president of Sparta Pride, a non profit that advocates
50:38
for transgender troops. She, like the other service members interviewed,
50:43
spoke in a personal capacity and not on behalf of
50:46
the military about four thousand, two hundred service members had
50:50
been diagnosed with gender dysphoria as of December ninth, A
50:54
senior Defense official said in May, on the condition of
50:56
anonymity under ground rules set by the Trump administration, that
51:01
number about zero point two one percent of the military's
51:05
total force includes active duty, reserve, and National Guard personnel.
51:11
Sparta Pride said studies have put the number of transgender
51:14
service members as high as about fifteen thousand. Roughly one
51:19
thousand trans troops had self reported as of May eighth,
51:22
Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. Department
51:27
officials said Friday they did not have an updated number
51:30
of active duty troops who self reported by the June
51:33
sixth deadline. The Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space
51:38
Force declined to release numbers for their individual branches. The
51:42
Navy said three hundred seventy one sailors self reported by
51:45
the deadline. Most American support letting transgender troops serve openly,
51:51
according to a January Gallup poll, but that support fifty
51:55
eight percent, has dwindled in recent years from seventy one
51:59
percent into twenty nineteen and sixty six percent in twenty
52:03
twenty one. The poll showed the Trump administration's ban is
52:08
the latest swing in a nearly decade long battle between
52:11
presidential administrations that have alternated political parties every four years
52:16
since twenty thirteen. For decades, transgender people were barred from
52:21
serving until twenty sixteen, when the Obama administration repealed the ban,
52:26
saying that doing so would give the military access to
52:29
the most highly qualified recruits. Trump tried to ban transgender
52:34
troops during his first term, and while the Defense Department
52:37
tightened restrictions affecting recruits, it also grandfathered in about nine
52:41
hundred people who were already serving. President Joe Biden reversed
52:46
those restrictions in twenty twenty one, but as Trump campaigned
52:50
last year to return to office, he promised to crack
52:53
down on what he called transgender insanity if elected, including
52:57
reimposing the ban. Bruce said she lost sleep over Trump
53:02
winning the November election, but she hoped his vow to
53:06
bring back the band was mere bluster, or the trans
53:09
troops who were already serving would again be grandfathered in.
53:13
Those hopes were dashed as Trump signed several executive actions
53:17
targeting transgender people. They included one he issued January twenty seventh,
53:22
taking aim at trans troops, accusing them of living in
53:25
conflict with its soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and
53:30
disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life. US Army Sergeant
53:35
first class Julia B. Kraft, thirty four, cried when she
53:39
heard those words by her commander in chief. She is
53:42
deployed to Afghanistan three times. During her fourteen year career,
53:46
which was mostly spent in the infantry. She's fought the
53:49
Taliban and the Islamic State. She seen combat, lost soldiers
53:54
from her company, and fought back enemy fighters to try
53:57
to rescue her comrades or recover their body. The Craft,
54:01
who planned to serve at least twenty years, said the
54:04
trauma of being stripped of her career and community sent
54:08
her into a tail spin. On February twenty sixth, the
54:12
day the Defense Department unveiled its new policy, she went
54:15
to the emergency room, scared she might harm herself. Doctors
54:20
released her to her commanding officer's adviser on condition that
54:23
she give up her personal firearm. She said the adviser
54:27
held her in the company's headquarters overnight she added, and
54:30
the next morning her commanding officer ordered her to report
54:33
to her behavioral health appointment. That day, she chose to
54:37
participate in a twenty eight day in patient therapy program
54:40
the depression, she said, including herself. Four of the twenty
54:45
patients in the Defense Department sponsored program were trans service
54:49
members coping with the same feelings of despair, for Craft said.
54:54
A day after Trump issued his executive order, a group
54:57
of transgender troops sued Hexath and other top military officials
55:01
in a lawsuit that has grown to include thirty two plaintiffs,
55:05
including Bruce. They scored quick legal victories in lower federal courts,
55:10
securing an injunction barring the administration from kicking them out,
55:15
but on May sixth, the Supreme Court granted the administration's
55:18
request to let the Defense Department implement its policy while
55:22
the case plays out in court. All of the trans
55:26
service members who spoke with the Post said forcing them
55:29
out is a waste of taxpayer dollars spent to educate
55:32
and train them. Schilling, the lead plaintiff in a second
55:35
lawsuit fighting the band, gave herself as an example, now
55:39
forty two. She joined the Navy in two thousand five
55:43
and trained as a fighter pilot from two thousand nine
55:46
to twenty twelve. She flew EA six B Prowlers in
55:50
sixty combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, then became a
55:54
test pilot in twenty fifteen to help improve the Navy's
55:57
aviation technology. She has been more than one thousand, seven
56:01
hundred hours in a cockpit during her twenty year career.
56:04
She said. At our most recent assignment, she managed three
56:08
hundred people and an annual budget of about one hundred
56:11
million dollars. Tasked with creating a mission control system for
56:15
launching drones from aircraft carriers, a program heralded as part
56:19
of the Air Wing of the Future, Shilling self reported
56:23
in March afraid that if she didn't, officials would end
56:26
her career just short of the twenty years needed to
56:29
get retirement benefits, and has been on administrative leave since then.
56:34
She said she already has a private sector job lined
56:37
up for post military life. Chief Warrant officer too. Joe Ellis,
56:42
a U AH sixty black Hawk helicopter pilot in the
56:45
Virginia Army National Guard, said she will take a different path.
56:50
Members of the Guard in reserve have until July seventh
56:52
to self report. She plans to let that deadline pass
56:56
and fight for her career as long as she can.
57:00
Part of its rubbing her to do so, she said,
57:03
was an experience earlier this year when her right wing
57:06
influencer falsely identified her as a pilot flying the Army
57:10
black Hawk helicopter that crashed mid air with an American
57:13
Airlines passenger jet near Reagan National Airport, killing all sixty
57:18
seven people aboard both aircraft. The influencer held her up
57:22
as exhibit A for the harm inflicted on the military
57:25
by diversity, equality and inclusion policies. Ellis, thirty five, realizes
57:32
active duties service members, livelihoods, pay, health insurance, retirement, and
57:37
other benefits are on the line. As a guard member
57:41
with a full time job as an information technology engineer
57:44
at a Fortune five hundred company, Ellis said she has
57:48
more freedom to challenge the ban. I want to go
57:51
out on my feet fighting, she said. I desperately want
57:55
to serve. The ten service members of Post talked to,
57:58
who served to combine one hundred thirty three years in uniform,
58:02
said the same, all of them, adding that expelling hundreds
58:05
or even thousands of qualified troops could harm military readiness.
58:11
Due to the constraints of time, we will be unable
58:13
to complete this item. This concludes the reading of the
58:17
Washington Post for to Day, Tuesday, June twenty fourth, twenty
58:21
twenty five. Your reader to day has been Cindy Fraser.
58:25
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this program,
58:29
please feel free to call us at eight five nine
58:31
four two two six three nine zero. Thank you for listening,
58:35
and now please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio
58:39
I