Obama: American intel 'underestimated' ISIS

Obama: American intel 'underestimated' ISIS

President Obama has conceded that the U.S. intelligence community "underestimated" ISIS and the conditions in the Middle East that allowed it to flourish. In an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes, Obama was asked if ISIS's successful offensives in Iraq and Syria came as a "complete surprise" to him.

"Our head of the intelligence community, [Director of National Intelligence] Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had taken place in Syria," Obama responded.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.