Threat Analyst Ken Abramowitz is the author of “The Multifront War”
Editor: Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, President, American Center for Democracy (ACD)
The Intelligence Community’s 2025 Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) was just released. It was a “coordinated evaluation of an array of threats to US citizens, the Homeland, and US interests in the world”. It did a respectable job looking at a wide array of challenges posed by Non-state Transnational Criminals and Terrorists, as well as state actors such as China, Russia, Iran and its proxies, and North Korea. It also reviewed different types of warfare, such as traditional kinetic capabilities, as well as economic war, illicit drugs, cyber, outer space, and political influence operations. It also discussed the inter-relationships between America’s enemies.
However, the report included some glaring mistakes and omissions:
1) It stated that “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and . . . Khamenei has not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003, though pressure has probably built on him to do so”. This statement defies known facts, previous US intelligence reports, and earlier Iranian statements. Why are we supposed to believe that the world’s largest terror organization is not working on nuclear weapons, even though they have expanded their uranium centrifuges from 500 to 20,600 during the past 10 years? Also, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that Iran has enriched uranium to the 80% level, close to the 90% level that is needed to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran also has had an active satellite program for 10 years, in preparation for developing larger intercontinental ballistic missiles.
2) Consequently, the report conveyed no urgency to action by our policymakers to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons development.
3) The report did not discuss other forms of warfare such as lawfare and demographic war.
4) The report did not discuss the technological aid provided to Iran and its nuclear project by China, Russia, and North Korea.
5) The report did not discuss the Communist ideology behind China’s actions and the Islamic ideology behind Iran’s actions. Both countries have vowed to take over the world! Why were these goals never mentioned?
6) No discussion was made about Sunni Muslim cultural terror organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood and its backers in Qatar and Turkey.
7) No discussion was made of the threat of domestic terror organizations such as BLM, ANTIFA, Muslim Brotherhood front groups, drug cartels, and incipient Chinese terror organizations, as well as anti-DOGE and anti-Tesla terror groups.
8) Cultural and ideological penetration into our schools, universities, and teachers’ colleges, including anti-American, progressive-Left, pro-Islamic, and antisemitic ideology were not mentioned.
We understand our deal-making President is pursuing peace. Providing him with misleading information guarantees failure and war. President Trump and the American people demand a reliable and honest report.
The best grade we could give the ATA is an “incomplete”. We hope the President rejects the report and asks that these deficiencies be fixed within four weeks. He should also re-examine the quality of the personnel producing such an inadequate report.
Believers in America First deserve better!
