Did Early U.S. Intelligence Reports Predicted The Rise Of The Islamic State As A Result Of U.S. And Ally Strategy In The War Against Assad?

BBC

Nafeez Ahmed, Medium: Pentagon report predicted West’s support for Islamist rebels would create ISIS

Anti-ISIS coalition knowingly sponsored violent extremists to ‘isolate’ Assad, rollback ‘Shia expansion’

A declassified secret US government document obtained by the conservative public interest law firm, Judicial Watch, shows that Western governments deliberately allied with al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups to topple Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad.

The document reveals that in coordination with the Gulf states and Turkey, the West intentionally sponsored violent Islamist groups to destabilize Assad, and that these “supporting powers” desired the emergence of a “Salafist Principality” in Syria to “isolate the Syrian regime.”

According to the newly declassified US document, the Pentagon foresaw the likely rise of the ‘Islamic State’ as a direct consequence of this strategy, and warned that it could destabilize Iraq. Despite anticipating that Western, Gulf state and Turkish support for the “Syrian opposition” — which included al-Qaeda in Iraq — could lead to the emergence of an ‘Islamic State’ in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the document provides no indication of any decision to reverse the policy of support to the Syrian rebels. On the contrary, the emergence of an al-Qaeda affiliated “Salafist Principality” as a result is described as a strategic opportunity to isolate Assad.

Update #1: Military intel predicted rise of ISIS in 2012, detailed arms shipments from Benghazi to Syria -- FOX News
Update #2: 2012 report warned about rise of Isis -- The Times

WNU Editor: Some are skeptical of these claims .... Did the U.S. Really See Islamic State as a Strategic Ally Against al-Assad in 2012? (Juan Cole, Truthdig). The Pentagon's DIA report is here.