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ISIS rise surprised Obama, US intelligence

American

American

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ISIS rise surprised Obama - CNNPolitics.com

Fareed Zakaria examines the triumphs and struggles during President Barack Obama's time in the White House. Watch "The Legacy of Barack Obama" on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.
Washington (CNN)ISIS' march across Iraq and Syria -- a campaign that's forced President Barack Obama to return small numbers of US troops to the region, even after touting an end to the decade-long ground offensives there -- came as a surprise to US intelligence, the President told CNN in a new special report.

The terror organization's rise in a tumultuous Middle East has provided Obama some of the toughest decisions of his presidency, choices that CNN's Fareed Zakaria explores in "The Legacy of Barack Obama" airing Wednesday.



"The ability of ISIL to not just mass inside of Syria, but then to initiate major land offensives that took Mosul, for example, that was not on my intelligence radar screen," Obama told Zakaria, using the administration's term for the Islamic State terror group.
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For those complaining about Trump missing intel briefings. :lol: Frankly I'm not that surprised given his initial priority was inside the borders. But the question should be asked, why wasn't it on his radar? They were JV, right?
 
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American said:
ISIS rise surprised Obama - CNNPolitics.com


For those complaining about Trump missing intel briefings. :lol: Frankly I'm not that surprised given his initial priority was inside the borders. But the question should be asked, why wasn't it on his radar?
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Because even having regular intelligence briefings doesn't make one omniscient. If Trump isn't interested in intel briefings, you can expect him to be surprised with considerably more frequency.
 
American said:
ISIS rise surprised Obama - CNNPolitics.com


For those complaining about Trump missing intel briefings. :lol: Frankly I'm not that surprised given his initial priority was inside the borders. But the question should be asked, why wasn't it on his radar?
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It was on his radar. What degree of importance that he gave it is the real question.
 
Cardinal said:
Because even having regular intelligence briefings doesn't make one omniscient. If Trump isn't interested in intel briefings, you can expect him to be surprised with considerably more frequency.
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If he didn't have his cabinet in place, you'd complain about that. Old people not getting checks, blacks dying by the thousands and starving children, among the possible allegations. I don't think he cares about satisfying his detractors.
 
American said:
If he didn't have his cabinet in place, you'd complain about that. Old people not getting checks, blacks dying by the thousands and starving children, among the possible allegations. I don't think he cares about satisfying his detractors.
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Are you really hijacking your own thread?
 
Oh I dont buy Obama's excuses at all. He was " surprised " ?

No, he was implementing his ME agenda. Under the pretense of " Democracy " he supported Ithe installation of Islamic theocracies over secular Govts.

The Egyptian Arab spring should have tipped off everyone to Obama's intentions for the ME.
 
Jack Fabulous said:
It was on his radar. What degree of importance that he gave it is the real question.
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IMO it was a low priority. Obama thought that ending the active military operations in Iraq would satisfy fundamental Islamic terrorist groups. These groups would be so thankful for this and not having to deal with Bush that they would leave the US alone. As the treat grew Obama downplayed its significance because acknowledging it would have hurt his chances for reelection. After his reelection Obama has played catch up hoping to combat the legacy of allowing ISIS to grow under his watch.
 
Fenton said:
Oh I dont buy Obama's excuses at all. He was " surprised " ?

No, he was implementing his ME agenda. Under the pretense of " Democracy " he supported Ithe installation of Islamic theocracies over secular Govts.

The Egyptian Arab spring should have tipped off everyone to Obama's intentions for the ME.
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What was he supposed to do? Occupy the entire Middle East from Tunisia to Syria?
 
American said:
ISIS rise surprised Obama - CNNPolitics.com


For those complaining about Trump missing intel briefings. :lol: Frankly I'm not that surprised given his initial priority was inside the borders. But the question should be asked, why wasn't it on his radar? They were JV, right?
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Why he might have missed it for so long?
No relevant experience and a liberal's distaste for the requirements of the nation's security. Too preoccupied with bad mouthing Guantanamo and enhanced interrogation. But that is not his fault. He was exactly, what we had expected him to be and what the people elected.
 
American said:
ISIS rise surprised Obama - CNNPolitics.com


For those complaining about Trump missing intel briefings. :lol: Frankly I'm not that surprised given his initial priority was inside the borders. But the question should be asked, why wasn't it on his radar? They were JV, right?
Click to expand...
Obama's people didn't want to hear the truth. Maybe if they ignored it ISIS would go away.
“The phrase I use is the politicization of the intelligence community,” retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told The Daily Beast when describing what he sees as a concerted push in government over the past several months to find information that tells a preferred story about efforts to defeat ISIS and other extremist groups, including al Qaeda. “That’s here. And it’s dangerous,” Flynn said.

At U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, analysts have been frustrated for months that as their reports make their way up the chain, senior officers change them to adhere more closely to the administration’s line. Three U.S. officials and analysts spoke to The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters.

The analysts said it was unclear who was leading the pressure to adjust their assessments, which more than one referred to as “spinning.” Some called it a result of a climate of the culture their commanders create. How such reports travel from CENTCOM headquarters to the senior reaches of the government and the military, and who reads them along the way, varies. Some reports go directly to the White House. More often, they go through several internal organizations and checks to determine what information is most useful to top officials.
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Spies: Obama?s Brass Pressured Us to Downplay ISIS Threat - The Daily Beast
 
American said:
ISIS rise surprised Obama - CNNPolitics.com


For those complaining about Trump missing intel briefings. :lol: Frankly I'm not that surprised given his initial priority was inside the borders. But the question should be asked, why wasn't it on his radar? They were JV, right?
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Harshaw said:
He does say he gets his information from the news, far more frequently than is comfortable.
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Harshaw scores a good touche! Our current POTUS has lied and used the excuse that he did not know about (insert topic here) until he turned on the TV or read a newspaper so often that it is a calling card of his. He has ignored the guidance and advise of his own military advisers pretty universally. He certainly did so in Iraq, Iran and Syria. The list goes on and this has all been well documented and reported and even the subject of a book or two. Add to that the fact that Mr. Obama has repeatedly demonstrated a penchant for getting rid of any military personal or advisers that did not agree with him lock step. Of course he has denied it but the fact of the matter is that by 2014 he had fired a record number of approximately 200 of them, there is the now infamous Politico article "Obama vs. the Generals" that detailed a lot of this too. Nothing that has happened under Obama's leadership has been his fault and as we can see by the details of the this story he won't be changing his tune any time soon. IMO his problems perceiving the threats that we face are not because he was not given good Intel and good advise, but because of his world view. How does one council a leader about radical Islamic terror threats when that leader can't even bring themselves to speak about or acknowledge radical Islamic terrorism in public? It should come as no surprise that this attitude is more than just a public one but a determined approach to dealing with the issue. So of course he was "surprised" that the JV team was a bigger threat than he surmised. :doh
 
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