The Pentagon’s inspector general is investigating allegations that military officials have skewed intelligence assessments about the U.S.-led campaign in Iraq against the Islamic State to provide a more optimistic account of progress, according to several officials familiar with the inquiry.
The investigation began after at least one civilian Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) analyst told the authorities that he had evidence that officials at U.S. Central Command – the military headquarters overseeing the U.S. bombing campaign and other efforts against IS – were improperly reworking the conclusions of intelligence assessments prepared for policymakers, including President Barack Obama, the government officials said.
Fuller details of the claims were not clear, including when the assessments were said to have been altered and who at Central Command, or CENTCOM, the analyst said was responsible. The officials, speaking only on condition of anonymity about classified matters, said that the recently opened investigation focused on whether military officials had changed the conclusions of draft intelligence assessments during a review process and then passed them on.
The prospect of skewed intelligence raises new questions about the direction of the government’s war with IS, and could help explain why pronouncements about the progress of the campaign have varied widely.
Legitimate differences of opinion are common and encouraged among national security officials, so the inspector general’s investigation is an unusual move and suggests that the allegations go beyond typical intelligence disputes.
Government rules state that intelligence assessments “must not be distorted” by agency agendas or policy views. Analysts are required to cite the sources that back up their conclusions and to acknowledge differing viewpoints.
Under federal law, intelligence officials can bring claims of wrongdoing to the intelligence community’s inspector general, a position created in 2011. If officials find the claims credible, they are required to advise the House and Senate Intelligence committees.
That occurred in the past several weeks, the officials said, and the Pentagon’s inspector general decided to open an investigation into the matter.
Spokeswomen for both inspectors general declined to comment for this article. The Defense Intelligence Agency and the White House also declined to comment.
Col. Patrick Ryder, a CENTCOM spokesman, said he could not comment on an ongoing inspector general investigation but said “the IG has a responsibility to investigate all allegations made, and we welcome and support their independent oversight.”
Numerous agencies produce intelligence assessments related to the Iraq war, including the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and others. Ryder said it was customary for them to make suggestions on one another’s drafts. But he said each agency had the final say on whether to incorporate those suggestions.
“Further, the multisource nature of our assessment process purposely guards against any single report unduly influencing leaders and decision-makers,” he said. — New York Times News Service
