Pentagon Probe of Islamic State Intelligence Finds Reports Weren’t Skewed by Shane Harris and Gordon Lubold, Wall Street Journal
The Defense Department is expected to release the results of an investigation on Wednesday that largely will exonerate senior military officials at U.S. Central Command of allegations that they manipulated intelligence reports to paint a rosier picture of the battle against the self-proclaimed Islamic State, according to people familiar with the report’s findings.
The report is already drawing criticism from those who say it plays down the claims of Centcom’s military analysts, dozens of whom complained in 2015 to the Pentagon Office of Inspector General that their bosses had selectively edited portions of their reports to make them read more optimistically about military progress than the analysts thought was warranted by facts on the ground. The analysts had also alleged that their bosses at Centcom, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, had tried to cover up evidence of interference with what’s supposed to be an objective process.
After the existence of an investigation was disclosed in 2015, Central Command officials said, without confirming the probe, that intelligence assessments are shared among intelligence agencies to prevent any single agency or individual from inordinately influencing intelligence findings. They have not commented on the investigation.
The complaints also set off a congressional investigation into whether intelligence was distorted, harking back to charges during the George W. Bush administration that officials had tried to cherry-pick intelligence about Iraq’s alleged weapons programs to back the case for the U.S. invasion of that country in 2003…