House GOP probes claims ISIS intelligence manipulated

[MikeWB]

The accusation could roil a presidential race already upended by fears about terrorism.

By Jeremy Herb and Austin Wright

12/11/15 06:36 PM EST
House Republicans are launching an investigation into allegations by Pentagon analysts that senior officials at the U.S. Central Command manipulated intelligence about the Islamic State to paint a rosier picture of the U.S. campaign against the terrorist group — an accusation that could roil a presidential race already upended by fears about terrorism.

The chairmen of the House Intelligence Committee, the House Armed Services Committee and the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee announced Friday they are creating a joint task force to investigate the accusations from a growing number of intelligence analysts that senior officials at the command responsible for operations in the Middle East watered down their assessments.

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The Republican probe, to coincide with the kickoff of the 2016 presidential primary season, is certain to sharpen the debate over whether the Obama administration has been aggressive enough in confronting the terrorist network that has been the target of a 16-month air campaign in Iraq and Syria and has shown alarming proficiency in recruiting new fighters and attracting to its cause disaffected Muslims in Europe and the United States.

The investigation, which the chairmen said will also try to determine if manipulation of intelligence is more "systemic," will be led by Republican Reps. Ken Calvert of California, Mike Pompeo of Kansas and Brad Wenstrup of Ohio.

The committees' Democrats are not taking part in the investigation, according to a GOP aide, who said "strenuous efforts" were made to get them to join. "We hope they will change their minds and join the task force," the aide said.
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CENTCOM, in a statement, vowed "to work with the Department of Defense to be responsive to any congressional requests for information" but declined to directly address the allegations, citing a separate ongoing probe by the Pentagon's inspector general.

The statement stressed, however, that Army Gen. Lloyd Austin and his command "are taking these allegations very seriously, and we welcome the independent oversight on this matter."

"We hold ourselves to the highest standards, and Gen. Austin counts on the more than 1,200 exceptional intelligence professionals who support CENTCOM's mission to provide him and the command with unvarnished intelligence and key insights into the myriad issues we face every day," the statement added.

Austin has previously vowed to take disciplinary action once results are in and reviewed.

The allegations first surfaced from a pair of Central Command's own analysts, who complained that their assessments of the progress of the war were being downplayed by higher ups.

More than 50 intelligence analysts at CENTCOM later signed onto a written complaint to the Pentagon Inspector General, asserting that the intelligence reports on the Islamic State's actions in Syria were being manipulated to fit a public narrative, the Daily Beast reported in September.

The new congressional task force also intends to examine whether intelligence manipulation is a result of larger, systemic problems.
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"In addition to looking into the specific allegations, the Joint Task Force will examine whether these allegations reflect systemic problems across the intelligence enterprise in CENTCOM or any other pertinent intelligence organizations," the chairmen said in a joint statement announcing the task force.

Preliminary results from the investigation, the chairmen said, are expected by early next year. The Senate Armed Services Committee is also "closely monitoring" the situation, according to a spokesman.

After the allegations of intelligence manipulation first surfaced, the Pentagon said Defense Secretary Ash Carter had instructed his top intelligence deputy to ensure he receives "unvarnished" intelligence.

During a confirmation hearing Wednesday for Marcel Lettre — nominated to be undersecretary of defense for intelligence — a number of senators made clear they're very concerned about whether President Barack Obama is getting accurate intelligence reports from his military commanders.

Lettre, now serving as the Pentagon's top intelligence official on an acting basis, responded that he too takes the allegations seriously.

"Analysts need to be able to know they can speak truth to power and call it like they see it," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Any modifications to intelligence reports generated by the military command apparently reportedly did not affect the assessments of other government agencies, including the Defense Intelligence Agency and the CIA, which have maintained that the 16-month U.S.-led air campaign against the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria has resulted in a stalemate.

In its statement late Friday, CENTCOM also highlighted the multiple sources that generate intelligence on the Islamic State for U.S. government officials.

"The Intelligence Community routinely provides a wide range of subjective assessments related to the current security environment," CENTCOM said. "These products and the analysis that they present are absolutely vital to our efforts, particularly given the incredibly complex nature of the multi-front fights that are ongoing now in Iraq and Syria.

"Senior civilian and military leadership consider these assessments during planning and decision-making, along with information gained from various other sources, to include the insights provided by commanders on the ground and other key advisers, intelligence collection assets and their own previous experience. The multi-source nature of the assessment process purposely guards against any single report or opinion unduly influencing leaders and decision-makers."
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/congress-to-probe-allegations-of-manipulated-isil-intel-216705


Teaparty is more blunt:

U.S. Lawmakers Make STUNNING Move To Investigate Obama For Helping ISIS
http://www.teaparty.org/u-s-lawmakers-make-stunning-move-investigate-obama-helping-isis-134169/

(Conservative Tribune) – Three committees in the House of Representatives announced Friday that they were launching concurrent investigations into allegations that President Barack Obama deliberately manipulated intelligence reports from Syria and Iraq, allowing the Islamic State group to thrive.

According to the Washington Examiner, Republican Reps. Ken Calvert of California, Mike Pompeo of Kansas and Brad Wenstrup of Ohio will lead the investigations for the Armed Services Committee, Intelligence Committee and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, respectively.

"In addition to looking into the specific allegations, the Joint Task Force will examine whether these allegations reflect systemic problems across the intelligence enterprise in CENTCOM or any other pertinent intelligence organizations," read a joint statement from Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rodney Freylinghuysen, R-N.J.

The investigations by the House committees joined an investigation by the Pentagon's inspector general's office in relation to the Obama administration's alleged manipulation of Islamic State group intelligence at U.S. Central Command.

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A September report said that 50 intelligence officials at CENTCOM had signed a letter claiming intelligence on the Islamic State group had been doctored.

The report claimed that the Obama administration would deliberately punish any intelligence official who gave accurate assessments of terror group strength and didn't doctor the information to make it look like the United States was winning the battle against them.

Even Democrats have gotten on the president and the administration about the intelligence doctoring, including one of the ranking Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jackie Speier of California.

"More recently the intelligence community, I think, has provided much more accurate assessments. But CENTCOM, which is the area that is responsible for the Middle East, has, for whatever reasons, we don't know yet why, has dumbed down the intelligence, has sweetened it, has made it seem like we are being more successful there than we are," Speier said.

"I'm deeply troubled by what I believe is doctoring that has taken place and has created an impression that we are doing better there than we actually are."

Rep. Speier may claim "we don't know yet why" intelligence reports were doctored, but we're pretty sure we understand why.

And pretty soon, these congressional investigations will reveal officially put the "why" out there for the world to see.

http://conservativetribune.com/stunning-move-obama-isis/