WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior U.S. lawmakers have begun probing possible intelligence lapses over Moscow’s intervention in Syria, concerned that American spy agencies were slow to grasp the scope and intention of Russia’s dramatic military offensive there, U.S. congressional sources and other officials told Reuters.
A week after Russia plunged directly into Syria’s civil war by launching a campaign of air strikes, the intelligence committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives want to examine the extent to which the spy community overlooked or misjudged critical warning signs, the sources said.
Findings of major blind spots would mark the latest of several U.S. intelligence misses in recent years, including Moscow’s surprise takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea region last year and China’s rapid expansion of island-building activities in the South China Sea.
WNU Editor: There were a lot of indications that Russia was going to intervene directly in Syria .... this blog covered a number of stories of the growing Russian military presence in Syria over the summer. The problem I think is that the politicians and the senior officials in the administration were focused elsewhere (i.e. Iran nuclear deal), and while I am sure that intellgience officials did raise the alarm, the politicians did not ask the hard and/or right questions. Now that Russia's intentions are very clear .... the finger pointing and CYA position is the official Washington policy.
3 comments:
They (NSA) were probably too busy spying on their own citizens ..
They fooled the Administration by dressing as ...........Russians, traveling in Russian ships, flying in Russian airplanes, and speaking in Russian. Anyone could have been fooled.
Well they had me fooled.
The Canadian Government kept talking about the New Hitler this and New Hitler that. I thought the Germans were at it again...did they REALLY save his brain like in the movies? Ships in the Mediterranean? How did they get the Bismark over THERE? Past Gibraltar and the Gra(hhh)nd Fleet? Diabolical!
"Well, the (recently) Rrrrrrrrrrrroyal Canadian Navy will give them what for" I thought.
But the Russians????!!! Boats?! Planes???! Who told them they could have that stuff? To hell you say???!!
Hmmmmmmmmmmm, maybe the monument to the victims of Communism should have tipped me off.
You know,I really should pay more attention to the word stuff coming out of Ottawa.
They're a very subtle bunch. Under-appreciated really.
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