Pentagon watchdog reportedly probing whether anti-ISIS campaign analysis altered

A civilian Defense Intelligence Agency analyst alerted authorities to evidence that officials at US Central Command (CENTCOM) were altering intelligence assessments prepared for policy makers, including President Barack Obama, government officials told the Times.

The Defense Department’s inspector general reportedly is investigating whether intelligence reports about the progress of the U.S.-led coalition’s crusade against ISIS in Iraq have been altered to be more optimistic.

Unnamed authorities officers detailed the declare to the Times, although it was unclear when the studies have been modified and who was accountable.

Though Centcom is in theory allowed to alter intelligence assessments for clarity’s sake, they are explicitly forbidden from “distorting” them for the sake of agency agendas, and are supposed to acknowledge differing viewpoints on the matter, something conspicuously absent from the reports.

According to officials familiar with the probe, the inspectors general formally informed the House and Senate Intelligence Committees in recent weeks about the “credible” claims of intelligence being deliberately skewed, and escalated the initial inquiry into a full-scale investigation.

The newspaper said the revelations about the possibly inaccurate intelligence raises new questions about the direction of the government’s effort and why assessment of progress have varied.

Since the US-led bombing campaign of the Islamic State began in Iraq a year ago, and subsequently in Syria, Iraqi security forces have retaken some territory previously seized by the group but not major cities like Mosul and Ramadi.

Last month, Obama administration particular envoy retired basic John Allen stated “ISIS is dropping”, utilizing an acronym by which the group is understood.

But after a bloody crackdown by the ruling regime, it spiraled into a multi-front civil war that has left more than 240,000 people dead.