Flynn was not alone. Clapper himself in that hearing warned that the three
most effective jihadist groups in Syriaone of which he said was
ISISpresented a threat as a magnet for attracting foreign fighters. John
Brennan, Obamas CIA director, said he thought both ISIS and Jabhat
al-Nusra, al Qaedas formal franchise in Syria, presented a threat to launch
external operations against the West.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, said February 4 that because of areas of Syria that are
beyond the regimes control or that of the moderate opposition, a major
concern was the establishment of a safe haven, and the real prospect that
Syria could become a launching point or way station for terrorists seeking
to attack the United States or other nations.
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in
anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni
katika machafuko"
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Herrn Edward
Mulindwa
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 6:30 PM
To: [email protected]; 'The First Virtual Network for
friends of Uganda'; '[email protected]'; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: {UAH} OBAMA CAN NOT SAY HIS SPIES UNDERESTIMATED ISIS
Why Obama Cant Say His Spies Underestimated ISIS
On 60 Minutes, the president faulted his spies for failing to predict the
rise of ISIS. Theres one problem with that statement: The intelligence
analysts did warn about the group.
Nearly eight months ago, some of President Obamas senior intelligence
officials were already warning that ISIS was on the move. In the beginning
of 2014, ISIS fighters had defeated Iraqi forces in Fallujah, leading much
of the U.S. intelligence community to assess they would try to take more of
Iraq.
But in an interview that aired Sunday evening, the president told
<http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-28/obama-says-u-s-underestimated-i
slamic-state-s-syria-gain.html> 60 Minutes that the rise of the group now
proclaiming itself a caliphate
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/29/isis-risks-everything-to-d
eclare-a-caliphate.html> in territory between Syria and Iraq caught the
U.S. intelligence community off guard. Obama specifically blamed James
Clapper, the current director of national intelligence: Our head of the
intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that, I think, they
underestimated what had been taking place in Syria, he said.
Reached by The Daily Beast after Obamas interview aired, one former senior
Pentagon official who worked closely on the threat posed by Sunni jihadists
in Syria and Iraq was flabbergasted. Either the president doesnt read the
intelligence hes getting or hes bullshitting, the former official said.
Clapper did tell
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-we-underestimated-the
-islamic-state-james-clapper-says/2014/09/18/f0f17072-3f6f-11e4-9587-5dafd96
295f0_story.html> The Washington Posts David Ignatius this month that he
underestimated the will of the ISIS fighters in Iraq and overestimated the
ability of Iraqs security forces in northern Iraq to counter ISIS. (He also
said his analysts warned about the prowess and capability of the group.)
Still, other senior intelligence officials have been warning about ISIS for
months. In prepared testimony
<http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Flynn_02-11-14.pdf>
before the annual House and Senate intelligence committees threat hearings
in January and February, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the recently departed
director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said the group would likely
make a grab for land before the end of the year. ISIS probably will attempt
to take territory in Iraq and Syria to exhibit its strength in 2014. Of
course, the prediction wasnt exactly hard to make. By then, Flynn noted,
ISIS had taken the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, and the demonstrated an
ability to concurrently maintain multiple safe havens in Syria.
The ability of ISIS to hold that territory will depend on its resources,
local support, as well as the responses of [Iraqi security forces] and other
opposition groups in Syria, Flynn added. He noted that while many Sunnis
likely opposed ISIS, some Sunni tribes and insurgent groups appear willing
to work tactically with [ISIS] as they share common anti-government goals.
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in
anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni
katika machafuko"
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