Several senior Pentagon officials and a US senator said on 22/8 that Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse "is no longer serving as director of the DIA". The DIA website announced that deputy director Christine Bordine has been appointed acting director.
In addition to Lieutenant General Kruse, two other senior officers have also lost their positions: Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore, commander of the Navy Reserve Force, and Rear Admiral Milton Sands, commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command. The reasons for their dismissals were not disclosed.
US media reported that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dismissed Kruse due to a "loss of confidence" in his leadership, related to an intelligence report on the outcome of the June 21 airstrike on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
In its assessment, the DIA concluded that the airstrike did not completely destroy the Iranian facilities, but only set back Tehran's nuclear program by a few months. This assessment contradicted President Donald Trump's earlier statement that the strike had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities.
 |
Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse at a US congressional hearing in 2024. Photo: AP |
Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse at a US congressional hearing in 2024. Photo: AP
Three days after the airstrike, the report was leaked to CNN. The Trump administration then strongly criticized the media for disclosing the assessment and reaffirmed the success of the operation.
Secretary of Defense Hegseth said the leaked DIA assessment was "because somebody was trying to make mischief and have people think this historic strike wasn't successful".
The DIA is a combat support and intelligence agency within the US Department of Defense, specializing in military intelligence. Kruse became its director at the beginning of 2024.
Previously, he served as an advisor to the Director of National Intelligence and held other positions, including intelligence director for the coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group.
Numerous high-ranking US military officers have been dismissed since Trump returned to the White House, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Brown, who was fired in February for undisclosed reasons.
Other dismissals include the chief of naval operations, the commandant of the Coast Guard, the head of the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, a navy admiral serving in NATO, and three top military prosecutors.
US Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin unexpectedly announced his retirement on 18/8 without explanation, despite having served only two years of his 4-year term. Secretary Hegseth maintained that President Trump was simply choosing the leaders he wanted.
Pham Giang (According to AFP, CNN, Reuters)
