August 25, 2015
By Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s inspector general (click here) is investigating allegations that military officials have skewed intelligence assessments about the United States-led campaign in Iraq against the Islamic State to provide a more optimistic account of progress, according to several officials familiar with the inquiry.
By Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s inspector general (click here) is investigating allegations that military officials have skewed intelligence assessments about the United States-led campaign in Iraq against the Islamic State to provide a more optimistic account of progress, according to several officials familiar with the inquiry.
The investigation began after at least one civilian Defense Intelligence Agency
analyst told the authorities that he had evidence that officials at
United States Central Command — the military headquarters overseeing the
American bombing campaign and other efforts against the Islamic State —
were improperly reworking the conclusions of intelligence assessments
prepared for policy makers, including President Obama, the government
officials said.
Fuller details of the claims were not available, including when the assessments were said to have been altered and who at Central Command, or Centcom, the analyst said was responsible. The officials, speaking only on the condition of anonymity about classified matters, said that the recently opened investigation focused on whether military officials had changed the conclusions of draft intelligence assessments during a review process and then passed them on....
Fuller details of the claims were not available, including when the assessments were said to have been altered and who at Central Command, or Centcom, the analyst said was responsible. The officials, speaking only on the condition of anonymity about classified matters, said that the recently opened investigation focused on whether military officials had changed the conclusions of draft intelligence assessments during a review process and then passed them on....
One complaint from an undisclosed source does not a failed strategy make. That civilian intelligence agency doesn't raise questions for me, except, who is this and why no one else came to the same conclusion.
There are more civilian intelligence agencies in the USA than sheep over a cliff and one of them came to different conclusions from every other assessment. Really?
The region is too fractured to have a cohesive plan. This is from The Jerusalem Post.
BEIRUT - Syrian President Bashar Assad (click here) said he was open to the idea of a coalition against Islamic State but indicated there was little chance of it happening with his enemies, casting further doubt on a Russian plan to forge an alliance against the militant group.
The initiative proposed by Russia, a vital ally of Assad, would involve the Syrian government joining regional states that have backed Syrian rebels in a shared fight against the Islamic State group that controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq....
There is no one strategy to end the war in the Middle East. Every country is a sovereign entity and has to solve their own problems when it comes to the influence of Daesh. Recenlty, Kuwait broke up a terror plot and arrested members of Hezbollah. Every country in the Middle East has to take control of their sovereignty and protect from destabilization.
August 14, 2015
Kuwait: Kuwait authorities (click here) seized a huge arms cache smuggled from Iraq and hidden beneath houses near the border, arresting three suspected members of a militant cell that was plotting to destabilise the country, local media said.
Majority-Sunni Muslim Kuwait has been on alert since an Daesh suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shi'ite mosque in the capital Kuwait city in late June, killing 27 people.
A total of 19,000 kg (42,000 lb) of ammunition, 144 kg of explosives, 68 weapons and 204 grenades were seized from three properties in the al-Abdali area, state news agency KUNA said.
The three men arrested were the owners of the houses, it said....
There is too much potential for instability if the USA entered the fray. Recently, Turkey took an old world posture that cost Kurds lives and land. The dynamics are too complex to have one strategy. Only a month ago everyone was holding the Kurds as a real hope for the stability in their region, now it is all up in the air because Turkey has taken a far different approach.
It is vitally important every sovereign country have control of their borders. Jordan has been an incredible example of a country resolved to end any danger from Daesh. Recently, Jordan closed one of their borders because of the chaos on the other side.
Russia has entered the fight for a stable Middle East. That should work to bring Syria to a better footing. The region is not conducive to a single military strategy, there are ongoing tensions between ethnicities and that needs to be settled. Russia can be an asset to that end. Having the USA military enter the region again is a gross error.
Russia is more than capable of bringing militarizes together to end the threat of Daesh. The USA - Arab Coalition is as equally important as Russia can be. This is not a new posture for Russia, it has been involved since Egypt attacked Daesh forces in Libya.
The idea the US military manipulated information to paint a pretty picture to the outcomes of the coalition is nonsense. The USA military is as interested today in protecting the people of the USA as at any other time in history.
President Obama knows exactly the potential and dangers of an unstable Middle East. He knows how tensions exist between coalition members, but, it is working. Old ideas of allies is falling away and countries in the Middle East are taking on the challenge of internal stability and peace. Daesh is no winning in sovereign countries.
These countries need more than the USA fighting their wars for them. They need common ground with a sole purpose to defeat the charismatic invasions of Daesh. The stability of these countries is paramount to the defeat of Daesh.
Saudi Arabia has a very long and effective ability to maintain stability while weeding out those that would see the country's leadership toppled.
I don't care what anyone thinks of a monarchy, it has worked to benefit the people within it's borders. Saudi Arabia has Shia living within the country. There is no hatred that exists within these countries that would move to war. The shadow of peace and diversity is important to defeat a common enemy and the leaders know this. The USA can no longer plow across borders to 'take over.' Such actions would cause a great deal of instability and death on all sides of the war.
One civilian intelligence agent does not make a new strategy. Any new assessment is always helpful, but, simply because one intelligent agency sees things differently, that is more political than practical. Differences are allowed to exist.
