23-09-2016, 04:48 PM
Revolt at MacDill Air Force Base? - http://www.newstalkflorida.com/news/tamp...orce-base/
By Allison Leslie - September 10, 2015
UPDATE: Military analyst Shane Harris will appear on Dan Maduri's radio show at 4:45 pm ET on 820AM.
You can learn about Shane's background at his website: www.shaneharris.com
The Daily Beast published a story on Thursday detailing how 50 intelligence operatives at Central Command (CENTCOM) based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa claim their honest assessments of the war against ISIS is being spun into "happy talk".
According to the official Centcom website:
"U.S.Central Command (CENTCOM) is one of nine unified commands in the United States military. Six of these commands, including CENTCOM, have an area of responsibility (AOR), which is a specific geographic region of the world where the combatant commanders may plan and conduct operations as defined under the Unified Command Plan."
CENTCOM covers the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq. Obviously it's been a busy area of operations over the past 20 years with two Gulf Wars and Afghanistan serving as combat theaters. The command is led by General Lloyd Austin, U.S. Army.
According to the story, the complaints from analysts spurred a Pentagon-level inspector general review of the data.
TWO SENIOR ANALYSTS AT CENTCOM SIGNED A WRITTEN COMPLAINT SENT TO THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT INSPECTOR GENERAL IN JULY ALLEGING THAT THE REPORTS, SOME OF WHICH WERE BRIEFED TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, PORTRAYED THE TERROR GROUPS AS WEAKER THAN THE ANALYSTS BELIEVE THEY ARE. THE REPORTS WERE CHANGED BY CENTCOM HIGHER-UPS TO ADHERE TO THE ADMINISTRATION'S PUBLIC LINE THAT THE U.S. IS WINNING THE BATTLE AGAINST ISIS AND AL NUSRA, AL QAEDA'S BRANCH IN SYRIA, THE ANALYSTS CLAIM. DAILY BEAST
The sheer number of analysts lodging concerns described as 50 ranks as "revolt" status among intelligence insiders. They fear their data is being manipulated to fit an Obama administration narrative.
If the data is indeed being manipulated, it's another potential oddity that makes the entire battle effort to stop ISIS appear irregular. Some of the questions that have arisen are:
· Why is the United States flying only limited sorties?
Why are ISIS training camps not being targeted?
How many times were supplies intended for Kurdish fighters accidentally dropped in ISIS territory?
Is any of the ISIS situation related to the Benghazi cover up and just what was the late ambassador J. Christopher Stevens doing in Libya with U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith the night the embassy was attacked?
"THE COMPLAINTS ALLEGE THAT IN SOME CASES KEY ELEMENTS OF INTELLIGENCE REPORTS WERE REMOVED, RESULTING IN A DOCUMENT THAT DIDN'T ACCURATELY CAPTURE THE ANALYSTS' CONCLUSIONS, SOURCES FAMILIAR WITH THE PROTEST SAID. BUT THE COMPLAINT ALSO GOES BEYOND ALLEGED ALTERING OF REPORTS AND ACCUSES SOME SENIOR LEADERS AT CENTCOM OF CREATING AN UNPROFESSIONAL WORK ENVIRONMENT. ONE PERSON WHO KNOWS THE CONTENTS OF THE WRITTEN COMPLAINT SENT TO THE INSPECTOR GENERAL SAID IT USED THE WORD "STALINIST" TO DESCRIBE THE TONE SET BY OFFICIALS OVERSEEING CENTCOM'S ANALYSIS. DAILY BEAST.
Some analysts claim negative reports were either returned or not sent up the chain of the command. Eventually, analysts took an "Emperor's New Clothes" view of their reports, thinking negative reports and not fitting a narrative might harm their career advancement.
ENDE
Investigation reveals CENTCOM general delayed intel on ISIS fight meant for the president - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-a-centco...president/
By JIM AXELROD, EMILY RAND CBS NEWS September 22, 2016, 7:13 PM
On a rainy day in September 2014, President Obama paid a visit to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida for a briefing from General Lloyd Austin.
Among the topics was the training and equipping of fragile Iraqi security forces to stop the explosive growth of ISIS. The cost of the program was to be $1.2 billion.
After the hour-long briefing, the president addressed the troops. "I just received a briefing from General Austin and met with your commanders, met with representatives from more than 40 nations," he said. "It is a true team effort here at MacDill."
But at the time, CENTCOM's intelligence operation was anything but unified.
Critical assessments of the Iraqi security forces were regularly being altered by top intelligence brass. Words like "slow," "stalled," and "retreat" were changed to "deliberate" and "relocated." This had the effect of painting a rosier picture in final reports delivered to General Austin and his staff.
But it didn't stop there. In one instance, CENTCOM's director of intelligence, Major General Steven R. Grove, blocked a negative assessment of Iraq's military from the President's Daily Brief, a top secret intelligence summary viewed only by the president and his closest advisers.
On Feb.19, 2015, the Pentagon's defense intelligence agency concluded Iraqi security forces wouldn't be ready to retake Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, before the end of the year. In Tampa, CENTCOM's Iraq analysts agreed.
But according to sources, General Grove ordered the assessment kept out of the president's brief until after his boss, General Austin, testified to Congress about the Iraqis' progress. In that testimony, Austin made the case for an additional $715 million for the program.
To stall the negative assessment from getting to the president, CENTCOM senior staff asked for revisions, and on March 3rd, 2015 Austin told Congress the train and equip strategy was working -- and that ISIS was on the run.
"ISIL is losing this fight," he said. "We're about where we said that we would be in the execution of our military campaign plan."
Last Fall, after the Pentagon began its investigation into allegations of intelligence manipulation, President Obama laid out his expectation that intelligence never be distorted.
"We can't make good policy unless we have good, accurate, clear-eyed, hard-headed intelligence," he said.
General Austin retired earlier this year as CENTCOM commander, but gave this statement to CBS News:
"As a senior military commander, I always made it very clear that I expected transparent and unvarnished intelligence assessments. Those assessments represent one important aspect of what are a number of factors used by leadership to understand the situation on the ground and make appropriate decisions regarding operations and application of available resources. I did not in this instance, specific to the capability of the Iraqi Security Forces in 2015, nor any other instance direct any member of the CENTCOM staff to adjust intelligence products or delay their delivery, nor would I have tolerated such actions."
General Grove declined to comment. He was rotated out of his position as CENTCOM intelligence director this past May. The inspector general's investigation is ongoing.
© 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
By Allison Leslie - September 10, 2015
UPDATE: Military analyst Shane Harris will appear on Dan Maduri's radio show at 4:45 pm ET on 820AM.
You can learn about Shane's background at his website: www.shaneharris.com
The Daily Beast published a story on Thursday detailing how 50 intelligence operatives at Central Command (CENTCOM) based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa claim their honest assessments of the war against ISIS is being spun into "happy talk".
According to the official Centcom website:
"U.S.Central Command (CENTCOM) is one of nine unified commands in the United States military. Six of these commands, including CENTCOM, have an area of responsibility (AOR), which is a specific geographic region of the world where the combatant commanders may plan and conduct operations as defined under the Unified Command Plan."
CENTCOM covers the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq. Obviously it's been a busy area of operations over the past 20 years with two Gulf Wars and Afghanistan serving as combat theaters. The command is led by General Lloyd Austin, U.S. Army.
According to the story, the complaints from analysts spurred a Pentagon-level inspector general review of the data.
TWO SENIOR ANALYSTS AT CENTCOM SIGNED A WRITTEN COMPLAINT SENT TO THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT INSPECTOR GENERAL IN JULY ALLEGING THAT THE REPORTS, SOME OF WHICH WERE BRIEFED TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, PORTRAYED THE TERROR GROUPS AS WEAKER THAN THE ANALYSTS BELIEVE THEY ARE. THE REPORTS WERE CHANGED BY CENTCOM HIGHER-UPS TO ADHERE TO THE ADMINISTRATION'S PUBLIC LINE THAT THE U.S. IS WINNING THE BATTLE AGAINST ISIS AND AL NUSRA, AL QAEDA'S BRANCH IN SYRIA, THE ANALYSTS CLAIM. DAILY BEAST
The sheer number of analysts lodging concerns described as 50 ranks as "revolt" status among intelligence insiders. They fear their data is being manipulated to fit an Obama administration narrative.
If the data is indeed being manipulated, it's another potential oddity that makes the entire battle effort to stop ISIS appear irregular. Some of the questions that have arisen are:
· Why is the United States flying only limited sorties?
Why are ISIS training camps not being targeted?
How many times were supplies intended for Kurdish fighters accidentally dropped in ISIS territory?
Is any of the ISIS situation related to the Benghazi cover up and just what was the late ambassador J. Christopher Stevens doing in Libya with U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith the night the embassy was attacked?
"THE COMPLAINTS ALLEGE THAT IN SOME CASES KEY ELEMENTS OF INTELLIGENCE REPORTS WERE REMOVED, RESULTING IN A DOCUMENT THAT DIDN'T ACCURATELY CAPTURE THE ANALYSTS' CONCLUSIONS, SOURCES FAMILIAR WITH THE PROTEST SAID. BUT THE COMPLAINT ALSO GOES BEYOND ALLEGED ALTERING OF REPORTS AND ACCUSES SOME SENIOR LEADERS AT CENTCOM OF CREATING AN UNPROFESSIONAL WORK ENVIRONMENT. ONE PERSON WHO KNOWS THE CONTENTS OF THE WRITTEN COMPLAINT SENT TO THE INSPECTOR GENERAL SAID IT USED THE WORD "STALINIST" TO DESCRIBE THE TONE SET BY OFFICIALS OVERSEEING CENTCOM'S ANALYSIS. DAILY BEAST.
Some analysts claim negative reports were either returned or not sent up the chain of the command. Eventually, analysts took an "Emperor's New Clothes" view of their reports, thinking negative reports and not fitting a narrative might harm their career advancement.
ENDE
Investigation reveals CENTCOM general delayed intel on ISIS fight meant for the president - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-a-centco...president/
By JIM AXELROD, EMILY RAND CBS NEWS September 22, 2016, 7:13 PM
On a rainy day in September 2014, President Obama paid a visit to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida for a briefing from General Lloyd Austin.
Among the topics was the training and equipping of fragile Iraqi security forces to stop the explosive growth of ISIS. The cost of the program was to be $1.2 billion.
After the hour-long briefing, the president addressed the troops. "I just received a briefing from General Austin and met with your commanders, met with representatives from more than 40 nations," he said. "It is a true team effort here at MacDill."
But at the time, CENTCOM's intelligence operation was anything but unified.
Critical assessments of the Iraqi security forces were regularly being altered by top intelligence brass. Words like "slow," "stalled," and "retreat" were changed to "deliberate" and "relocated." This had the effect of painting a rosier picture in final reports delivered to General Austin and his staff.
But it didn't stop there. In one instance, CENTCOM's director of intelligence, Major General Steven R. Grove, blocked a negative assessment of Iraq's military from the President's Daily Brief, a top secret intelligence summary viewed only by the president and his closest advisers.
On Feb.19, 2015, the Pentagon's defense intelligence agency concluded Iraqi security forces wouldn't be ready to retake Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, before the end of the year. In Tampa, CENTCOM's Iraq analysts agreed.
But according to sources, General Grove ordered the assessment kept out of the president's brief until after his boss, General Austin, testified to Congress about the Iraqis' progress. In that testimony, Austin made the case for an additional $715 million for the program.
To stall the negative assessment from getting to the president, CENTCOM senior staff asked for revisions, and on March 3rd, 2015 Austin told Congress the train and equip strategy was working -- and that ISIS was on the run.
"ISIL is losing this fight," he said. "We're about where we said that we would be in the execution of our military campaign plan."
Last Fall, after the Pentagon began its investigation into allegations of intelligence manipulation, President Obama laid out his expectation that intelligence never be distorted.
"We can't make good policy unless we have good, accurate, clear-eyed, hard-headed intelligence," he said.
General Austin retired earlier this year as CENTCOM commander, but gave this statement to CBS News:
"As a senior military commander, I always made it very clear that I expected transparent and unvarnished intelligence assessments. Those assessments represent one important aspect of what are a number of factors used by leadership to understand the situation on the ground and make appropriate decisions regarding operations and application of available resources. I did not in this instance, specific to the capability of the Iraqi Security Forces in 2015, nor any other instance direct any member of the CENTCOM staff to adjust intelligence products or delay their delivery, nor would I have tolerated such actions."
General Grove declined to comment. He was rotated out of his position as CENTCOM intelligence director this past May. The inspector general's investigation is ongoing.
© 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Martin Luther King - "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Albert Camus - "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion".
Douglas MacArthur — "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons."
Albert Camus - "Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear."
Albert Camus - "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion".
Douglas MacArthur — "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons."
Albert Camus - "Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear."