>>5453758 (lb)

One can be absolutely confident and still be completely wrong.

Intelligence is the gathering of information. Nothing about intelligence implies that it is automatically truth.

Evidence is proof. Intelligence is extrapolation from collected data. Confidence is entirely subjective.

I am absolutely confident, and I have the intelligence, that Assad didn't use chemical weapons last week.

Where is my proof in that statement? You are using the authority of the speaker to judge the statement. Who collected the intelligence, and what were their motives? Mattis' ABSOLUTE confidence is based on his opinion that those who are supplying the information for the intelligence are trustworthy. And to believe his statement, or my statement for that matter, you must also, and without the presentation of any evidence.