Obama orders review of reports on Islamic State

Central Command is the military command that oversees operations in the Middle East. The Pentagon’s inspector general is now investigating the matter and lawmakers have expressed concern about what has gone on.

Nunes said his committee was working with other congressional panels to study the Centcom intelligence reports. Gen. Steven Grove and his civilian deputy, Gregory Ryckman. But Pentagon investigators have found the work painstaking and it could span months. Fox News source is told by a source near the CENTCOM analysts in that the pressure on them included no less than two emails saying they needed to “cut it out” & “toe the line”.

The analysts themselves have taken steps to preserve material that could be used as evidence, these people said.

At the same time, the officials say CENTCOM would not be the only source of intelligence regarding ISIS in Iraq – that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), CIA, and Director of Intelligence, would normally provide input or review much of the intelligence passed on to the White House.

But the allegations of a cover-up underscored the degree to which intelligence analysts have essentially mounted an insurrection aimed at correcting what they see as unprofessional behavior by their own leaders. The complaints allege that higher-ups at CENTCOM are watering-down intelligence briefings for the administration’s benefit.

“The cancer was within the senior level of the intelligence command”, one defense official told The Daily Beast.

Devin Nunes was asked on CNN about a NY Times report on whether intelligence assessments from U.S. Central Command painted an overly optimistic picture of the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. A spokeswoman for the inspector general declined to comment.

The Pentagon’s Inspector General, in charge of the investigation, seized a massive number of Centcom emails from military computers, along with other documents related to the intelligence.

The IG probe started earlier this year amid complaints that information was changed to make ISIS look more degraded than it really was.

Draft reports that contained a more pessimistic view, or that questioned the efficacy of hitting certain targets, were sent back to the analysts for more extensive rewriting.

Obama himself weighing in on Sunday about the allegations of doctored intelligence.

Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said Obama has made clear to his advisers he wants a warts-and-all account of the fight against Isis. “What I do know is my expectation – which is the highest fidelity to facts, data, the truth”.

He said the Islamic State is spread far beyond that region and US strategy should be broadened to match the global threat.

Obama said intelligence should reflect the degree of confidence that intelligence agencies have in the information and whether there are disputes among agencies about their assessments.

The Times provided one example of this. “It was basically: ‘Over my dead body'”.