-
Tips for becoming a good boxer - November 6, 2020
-
7 expert tips for making your hens night a memorable one - November 6, 2020
-
5 reasons to host your Christmas party on a cruise boat - November 6, 2020
-
What to do when you’re charged with a crime - November 6, 2020
-
Should you get one or multiple dogs? Here’s all you need to know - November 3, 2020
-
A Guide: How to Build Your Very Own Magic Mirror - February 14, 2019
-
Our Top Inspirational Baseball Stars - November 24, 2018
-
Five Tech Tools That Will Help You Turn Your Blog into a Business - November 24, 2018
-
How to Indulge on Vacation without Expanding Your Waist - November 9, 2018
-
5 Strategies for Businesses to Appeal to Today’s Increasingly Mobile-Crazed Customers - November 9, 2018
GOP Says US Command Manipulated Islamic State Intel Reports
According to a hard-hitting government task force report being released Thursday, intelligence generated by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) was manipulated to paint a rosier picture of the U.S. effort to combat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Advertisement
A report released Thursday details persistent problems over the last two years with Central Command’s analysis of US efforts to train Iraqi forces and combat the extremist group in Iraq and Syria.
It found “widespread dissatisfaction” among analysts at U.S. Central Command who felt their the superiors were distorting their products.
The task force’s investigation isn’t yet complete.
CNN noted that differing views on ISIS, also known as ISIL, were reported in March 2015, when then-CENTCOM commander Gen. Lloyd Austin said, “we have significantly degraded his (ISIS’) capability – his ability to command and control his forces and also his primary sources of revenue, namely his oil refineries and his crude collection points”.
Their report blames “structural and management changes” at the intelligence directorate, which began in mid-2014. Members of the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees and the Defense Appropriations subcommittee participated in the review.
The distorted intelligence led Pentagon officials to make public statements in the first half of 2015 about the fight that were more positive than the intelligence supported, according to the report.
The task force stemmed from a whistleblower complaint from a senior analyst at CENTCOM alleging that intel had been manipulated. “That may well have resulted in putting American troops at risk as policymakers relied on this intelligence when formulating policy and allocating resources for the fight”.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee conducted their own inquiry into the allegations of intelligence manipulation at Central Command.
Advertisement
“The CENTCOM Director of Intelligence or his deputy had, and continue to have, secure teleconferences with the Joint Staff Director of Intelligence and senior ODNI [Office of the Director of National Intelligence] leaders – frequently including the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)”, the report said. “Nor did we – or the majority – find any evidence that the White House requested to, or in any manner attempted to, have the intelligence analysis conform to any preset or political narrative”, he said.