US Capitol riots: Senate report reveals ‘intelligence and security failures’
A Senate investigation into the US Capitol riots has uncovered a “number of intelligence and security failures” leading up to and on the day violence erupted.
On 6 January pro-Trump supporters broke into the Capitol building, vandalised and destroyed property and ransacked offices as Congress met to certify Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States.
Seven people died, including three police officers, and dozens were arrested in the aftermath of the attack.
The 95-page report found intelligence officers, including the FBI, failed to issue any warning of potential attacks on the Capitol, leaving police officers unprepared to deal with rioters.
It said the police’s intelligence unit “knew about social media posts calling for violence at the Capitol” including a plot to breach the building, online sharing of maps of the area’s tunnel systems and other specific threats.
Published by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Rules committees, it also said Capitol Police were compromised by multiple issues and its incident command system “broke down” during the insurrection.
The report said Chief of Police at the time, Steven Sund, believed officers would need support securing the area but did not order an operational plan ahead of time – which resulted in a lack of leadership during the riots.
“I was horrified that no deputy chief or above was on the radio or helping us,” one officer told the committee in an anonymous statement.
“For hours the screams on the radio were horrific, the sights were unimaginable and there was a complete loss of control.”
The report said intelligence units knew about social media posts about violence at the Capitol but did not pass the information on
The report also noted the lack of “effective protective equipment” for officers.
The Capitol Police Labor Committee released a statement recounting some of the serious injuries seen, which said there were officers “who were not issued helmets prior to the attack who sustained brain injuries” as well as an officer with “two cracked ribs” and another who was “going to lose his eye”.
The Senate report recounted how the National Guard was delayed for hours due to a “lack of emergency authority” to obtain the necessary approvals for its assistance and the failure by Capitol Police to request its help before 6 January.
Deployed troops did not arrive until about 5:20pm – nearly three hours after they were requested – and by which time the House and Senate chambers had already been declared secure.
The committees have made several recommendations following the investigation including giving the Chief of Police the power to request National Guard help in an emergency, improvements to officers’ training, equipment, intelligence collection and operational planning.
Riot police clashed with protesters during the attack
The report also found:
• Capitol Police officers were not provided periodic training in basic civil disturbance tactics
• The police incident command system “broke down during the attack, leaving front line officers without key information or instructions as events unfolded”
• Capitol Police Board members in charge did not “fully understand” the requirements for asking for assistance from other agencies or declaring emergencies
• The Department of Defense’s response was “informed by criticism” of its “heavy-handed” response to the protests last summer that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis
US
Iran confirms it has agreed to ceasefire with Israel – as Trump declares it will begin within hours
A “complete and total ceasefire” has been agreed between Israel and Iran, according to Donald Trump.
The US president made the announcement on Truth Social – hours after Tehran launched a missile strike on a US army base in Qatar.
In a post shared at just after 11pm UK time, Mr Trump said the first stage of the ceasefire would begin six hours later.
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Donald Trump in the Situation Room at the White House over the weekend
This means both countries could still launch strikes in the meantime – and soon after, Israel announced evacuation orders for two areas in Tehran.
A senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency that Tehran has agreed to the ceasefire after being persuaded by Qatar.
Mr Trump wrote: “Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World.
“On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR.’
“This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will!”
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Iran’s nuclear capabilities
In an interview with Sky News’ partner network NBC, the president said it was a “great day” for the US and the Middle East – and a “wonderful day” for the world.
“I’m very happy to have been able to get the job done. A lot of people were dying and it was only going to get worse. It would have brought the whole Middle East down,” he said.
Mr Trump said he thinks the ceasefire is “unlimited” and is “going to go forever” – adding: “I don’t believe they will ever be shooting at each other again.”
Just hours earlier, people in the Qatari capital Doha had stopped and gazed up at the sky as Iranian missiles flew to the American al Udeid base and interceptors fired.
Officials said there were no casualties, and the US later confirmed it had been warned about the attack by Iran.
Mr Trump was in the Situation Room in the White House as the strikes took place.
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He later claimed on his social network that the missiles were a “very weak response”, which the US “expected” and “very effectively countered”.
The Iranian attack came after the US dropped “bunker buster bombs” on three key nuclear sites in Iran over the weekend.
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Iran releases video after attack on US base
In a new interview on Fox News, US Vice President JD Vance claimed Iran is no longer able to build nuclear weapons after the American attacks.
“Iran was very close to having a nuclear weapon,” he said. “Now Iran is incapable of building a nuclear weapon with the equipment they have because we destroyed it.”
The Pentagon briefing was big on what happened but short on detail of what happens next.
Neither defence secretary Pete Hegseth nor General Dan “Raisin” Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, can answer that.
Mr Hegseth called the bombing an “incredible and overwhelming success” with “focused and clear” instructions from President Trump.
The focus now is on what follows and that’s not so clear.
The briefing laid out the details of the military deception plan behind Operation Midnight Hammer.
B-2 stealth aircraft were flown west towards the Pacific on Saturday as a decoy, while the B-2s with bunker-busting bombs on board flew east towards Iran.
Israel-Iran live: World continues to react to US attack on nuclear facilities
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What is Operation ‘Midnight Hammer’?
Mr Hegseth called it a plan that took months and weeks of positioning and came down, in the end, to “precision, misdirection and operational security”.
Gen Caine, Mr Trump’s top military man, offered a measured assessment. While Mr Trump had spoken of Iran’s nuclear sites being “obliterated”, Gen Caine revised that downwards when he spoke of “extremely severe damage”.
Full battle damage assessment will reveal the complete picture – only then can the mission’s success be measured in full, mindful that Iran had shifted at least some of its enriched uranium in the days before the strike.
On the politics of it, Mr Hegseth said this wasn’t about regime change in Iran. It might offer precious little reassurance to Tehran, particularly as he also said part of the operation was to defend Israel and the ongoing defence of Israel.
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What next after US-Iran strikes?
If the US is tethered to Israel’s interests to the extent of an unprecedented attack on Iran, where does its influence end?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared almost giddy in response to the US attack. He is a PM strengthened by Mr Trump’s spectacular response to his rhetoric around Iran.
Suspicions weren’t softened around Netanyahu’s influence over Mr Trump when Mr Hegseth was asked about the basis for the attack. He has long lobbied the US president on Iran being close to building a nuclear bomb, contrary to American intelligence which indicates otherwise.
Mr Hegseth was asked what was the new intelligence, was it American or from other countries? He avoided a direct answer, saying only that Mr Trump had looked at all the intelligence information and concluded Iran was a threat.
There were a number of questions about what comes next, with an assortment of non-answers in response from Mr Hegseth.
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Starmer reacts to US strikes on Iran
Read more:
Iran may not have lost its ability to make a nuclear bomb
Iran may decide that killing Americans is the best way to retaliate
A consistent line was that the US wanted Iran to negotiate peace, coupled with the threat of further aggression if it doesn’t.
The US defence secretary said Washington was in touch with Tehran privately and publicly, giving it every opportunity to come to the table, every opportunity for peace.
He made the point that America hadn’t targeted Iranian troops or civilians – clearly, a measure by the US to limit response and leave open a door.
The Americans want this attack to have been a “one-and-done”.
The scenario it’s left with, however, is an Iran talking of a diplomatic door closed and sending its foreign minister travelling to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin.
Iran is wounded, no doubt. Combined attacks have left it degraded and, without a network of support in the Middle East, its ability to strike back is limited. For now, if not necessarily forever.
Donald Trump clearly enjoyed the sugar rush of military success but he will be wary of the come-down and all of its uncertainties.
In circumstances with world implications, he won’t be alone.
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