Iranian missile attack details

U.S. officials said they knew by Tuesday afternoon that the Iranians intended to strike at American targets in Iraq.

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The early warning came from intelligence sources as well as from communications from Iraq that conveyed Iran’s intentions to launch the strike, officials said.

“We knew, and the Iraqis told us, that this was coming many hours in advance,” said a senior administration official.

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But others downplayed claims that the Iraqis had such a consequential role. A senior defense official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that if the Iraqis provided warning, it certainly wasn’t hours in advance.

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“It was literally like right before” the Iranians launched their missiles, one senior defense official said.

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The advance warning gave military commanders time to get U.S. troops into safe, fortified positions at the bases.

  WaPo

Then it wasn't "literally like right before.”

According to military officials, troops at bases in Iraq were ordered into bunkers, donned protective gear and were told to “shelter in place.”

The troops remained in their protected positions for hours, including after the strike.

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Commanders on the ground, overseen by Marine Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, head of the U.S. Central Command, also moved some service members off small bases in the region and scattered equipment and people on installations to make them harder to hit.

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Military officials were not sure, once the missiles were launched, which locations Iran had targeted. It was hard to tell at the Pentagon which bases were under attack “until actual impact on two specific bases,” a senior U.S. military official said. “The attack spread out for more than an hour."

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Even with the advance notice, U.S. military officials were still scrambling after the attack to assess the damage and determine Iran’s intentions. U.S. forces in the region remained on high alert after the strikes, but no significant troop movements have been made in Syria or elsewhere, according to military officials.

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The second senior defense official acknowledged that officials on Tuesday night intended to limit information released to the public until the extent of the damage and how Trump might respond became clearer.

“We all understood that if the Iranians were to respond next, we owned the shot clock after,” the official said. “So, you need to be very thoughtful, very deliberate.”

Tell that to your commander in chief.

The Pentagon and State Department sent staffers to the White House early Wednesday to write Trump’s speech.

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A third senior administration official said there was a sigh of relief when Trump agreed to read from prepared remarks and not take questions. Some aides were concerned that Trump might deviate from the precise remarks and misspeak if he made extemporaneous remarks to reporters, the official said.

They're catching on.

UPDATE: