House Republicans Find Centcom Produced Overly Upbeat Intelligence on Islamic State by Missy Ryan, Washington Post
An investigation by House Republicans has found that the U.S. military’s Central Command regularly produced intelligence that distorted the results of the campaign against the Islamic State, suggesting that command leaders shaped analysis in a way that resulted in a more upbeat depiction of the war.
Interim conclusions from a joint panel including Republicans from the House Armed Services, Intelligence and Appropriations committees found that assessments produced by Centcom’s intelligence unit routinely differed during 2014-2015 from the judgments of senior career analysts there. The investigation relied on survey results and interviews with Centcom personnel.
The intelligence reports examined by lawmakers “also consistently described U.S. actions in a more positive light than other assessments from the [intelligence community] and were typically more optimistic than actual events warranted,” the investigation found.
The probe stems from an internal complaint by a civilian intelligence analyst who alleged that intelligence from Centcom, which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East, was being improperly distorted. The Pentagon’s inspector general’s office is conducting a separate investigation into the issue.
Cmdr. Kyle Raines, a spokesman for Centcom, said the command had seen the report, but he declined further comment while other investigations were continuing…