Fifty Spies Claim ISIS Intelligence Was Altered

More than 50 intelligence analysts working out of the U.S. military’s Central Command have made a formal complaint that their reports on Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra were being changed inappropriately by senior officials, The Daily Beast reports.

The objections prompted the Pentagon’s inspector general to launch an investigation into the alleged intelligence manipulation.

Two senior analysts at CENTCOM reportedly signed a written complaint in July sent to the inspector general in the Defense Department stating that reports, some briefed to President Obama, portrayed Islamist groups in Syria as weaker than the analysts judge them to be. The analysts claim that the reports were changed by higher-ups in CENTCOM to fit in with the administration’s public position that the U.S. is winning the battle against Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaida’s branch in Syria).

Some 50 other analysts supported the complaint. Some of them have protested for months about the politicizing of intelligence reports.

Russia Supports Assad as he Bolsters his Position in Coastal Heartland

The main aim of Russia’s military buildup in Syria is to bolster President Bashar al-Assad and back him as he reinforces his coastal heartland, where he is attempting to boost the communities that are his power base as his army stutters, according a Reuters report released Monday.

Residents of Latakia, the coastal city that is a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite minority, told Reuters that Russia’s military presence began to increase in June and alongside it came preparations for the eventual breakup of Syria.

The population of Latakia has reportedly increased fourfold during the four years of civil war, and the government is now expediting the settlement of other minority groups including Shi’ites and Christians.

If Assad were driven out of Syria’s capital Damascus and the city was taken by Islamic State or other Islamist rebels, Russia and the Syrian government’s allies – including Iran and Hezbollah– will have prepared for him a strongly fortified fallback in Latakia.

NATO Chief Worried About Russian Military Build-up in Syria

NATO General Philip Breedlove stated Monday that he is concerned at the strength of Russia’s military buildup in northwestern Syria and the seeming establishment of a defensive “bubble” in the Mediterranean, AFP reports.

Breedlove pointed out that Russia had sent advanced weaponry, beyond what is needed to fight Islamic State, meaning that the hardware was intended to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“We see some very sophisticated air defenses going into these airfields. We see some very sophisticated air-to-air aircraft going into these airfields,” Breedlove told an audience in Washington, D.C. “I have not seen (the Islamic State) flying any airplanes that require sophisticated air-to-air capabilities.”

Recommended Reads

• Reuters: Russia Establishes Seaborne Lifeline for Syrian Allies
• The Associated Press: After Ruinous War, Syria Regions May Go Separate Ways
• Politico Magazine: It’s Time to Rethink Syria
• The Atlantic: Bashar al-Assad and the Devil’s Endgame
• The Christian Science Monitor: Refugees at Syrian Border Say the Loss of Hope Will Push Out Millions More
• The Washington Post: Will a U.N.-backed Agreement End Fighting in Parts of Syria?