A concerned Department of Defense employee has prompted an internal investigation into whether the Pentagon was altering intelligence assessments on the impact of the US military’s bombing campaign against the Islamic State (ISIL).
The civilian Defense Intelligence Agency employee alleged that officials at US Central Command fudged the conclusions of an intelligence report examining the effectiveness of the operations, according to the New York Times. The charges initiated a Department of Defense Inspector General investigation.
The types of intelligence believed to have been distorted includes assessments provided to President Obama. Per Pentagon regulations, the analyses “must not be distorted.”
Exactly how the reports are alleged to have been skewed is still not known. Neither the DOD Inspector General nor officials from the Defense Intelligence Agency have commented on the report.
A spokesperson for US Central Command told the New York Times that “the IG has a responsibility to investigate all allegations made, and we welcome and support their independent oversight.”
President Obama initiated military force against ISIL in Iraq last summer. Since then, US forces have carried out more than 2,600 airstrikes in Iraq. The Pentagon boasts that the bombing campaign has reversed ISIL’s territorial gains, and destroyed thousands of the group‘s assets, including fighting positions, tanks, and oil infrastructure.
Officials told the Times, however, that classified intelligence assessments paint a more dismal picture, showing that ISIL’s ranks continue to grow, and that the group’s ideology has spilled across the border into neighboring North Africa and other countries in the Middle East.
During a press conference last week, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter was asked to respond to claims that the current war effort against ISIL has achieved little gains.
“Iraq obviously was in no position to effectively counter ISIL last summer,” Carter said. “It is in a better position this summer.”
He added that “the strategy is the right one and we’re just going to have to keep working on it.”
CNN reporter Barbara Starr countered, noting that “the intelligence community says it’s a stalemate.”
“Then you can report that, but I’m not going to try to characterize that,” Carter responded.
