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| Obama Says He Won’t Relent in Fight Against ISIS Amid Questions About Intelligence Reports | Obama Says He Won’t Relent in Fight Against ISIS Amid Questions About Intelligence Reports |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — President Obama said on Sunday that he had ordered his senior defense officials to find out whether intelligence reports had been altered to reflect a more optimistic assessment of the American military campaign against the Islamic State. | KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — President Obama said on Sunday that he had ordered his senior defense officials to find out whether intelligence reports had been altered to reflect a more optimistic assessment of the American military campaign against the Islamic State. |
| Speaking at a news conference before leaving Malaysia to return home at the end of a 10-day overseas trip, Mr. Obama said he expected the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate allegations that significant changes were made to reports from analysts at the United States Central Command, known as Centcom. | Speaking at a news conference before leaving Malaysia to return home at the end of a 10-day overseas trip, Mr. Obama said he expected the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate allegations that significant changes were made to reports from analysts at the United States Central Command, known as Centcom. |
| “I don’t know what we’ll discover with respect to what was going on in Centcom,” Mr. Obama said. “What I do know is my expectation — which is the highest fidelity to facts, data, the truth.” | “I don’t know what we’ll discover with respect to what was going on in Centcom,” Mr. Obama said. “What I do know is my expectation — which is the highest fidelity to facts, data, the truth.” |
| Mr. Obama was responding to a report in The New York Times on Sunday that described the internal Pentagon investigation. Some analysts in the Defense Department say their supervisors revised their conclusions about some of the military’s failures before making the reports final. | Mr. Obama was responding to a report in The New York Times on Sunday that described the internal Pentagon investigation. Some analysts in the Defense Department say their supervisors revised their conclusions about some of the military’s failures before making the reports final. |
| In recent weeks, the Pentagon has expanded its investigation into the allegations and has seized a large trove of emails and documents as it examines the claims. The president said altering reports to make them more optimistic would be contrary to his wishes. | In recent weeks, the Pentagon has expanded its investigation into the allegations and has seized a large trove of emails and documents as it examines the claims. The president said altering reports to make them more optimistic would be contrary to his wishes. |
| “One of the things I insisted on the day I walked into the Oval Office was that I don’t want intelligence shaded by politics. I don’t want it shaded by a desire to tell a feel-good story,” he said. | “One of the things I insisted on the day I walked into the Oval Office was that I don’t want intelligence shaded by politics. I don’t want it shaded by a desire to tell a feel-good story,” he said. |
| He added: “I have made it repeatedly clear to all my top national security advisers that I never want them to hold back, even if the intelligence, or their opinions about the intelligence, their analysis or interpretations of the data, contradict current policy.” | He added: “I have made it repeatedly clear to all my top national security advisers that I never want them to hold back, even if the intelligence, or their opinions about the intelligence, their analysis or interpretations of the data, contradict current policy.” |
| The investigators, as detailed in The Times report, are examining years of intelligence reports by Centcom and comparing them with reports about the same events produced by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and others. | The investigators, as detailed in The Times report, are examining years of intelligence reports by Centcom and comparing them with reports about the same events produced by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and others. |
| Some assessments of the administration’s campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq, for example, have focused on the deep political and religious divides in that country that would be difficult to bridge. Meanwhile, the official picture from Centcom was generally more upbeat, The Times reported. | Some assessments of the administration’s campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq, for example, have focused on the deep political and religious divides in that country that would be difficult to bridge. Meanwhile, the official picture from Centcom was generally more upbeat, The Times reported. |
| Mr. Obama was careful to say he did not know “the details about this.” He said there were many times when legitimate disputes existed among different agencies about an intelligence conclusion. | Mr. Obama was careful to say he did not know “the details about this.” He said there were many times when legitimate disputes existed among different agencies about an intelligence conclusion. |
| He said such disagreements had to be shared with him in a transparent way. | He said such disagreements had to be shared with him in a transparent way. |
| But he also said he had not felt that the reports he had received about the campaign to fight the Islamic State had been overly optimistic. | But he also said he had not felt that the reports he had received about the campaign to fight the Islamic State had been overly optimistic. |
| “It’s not as if I’ve been receiving wonderfully rosy, glowing portraits of what’s been going on in Iraq and Syria over the last year and a half,” he said, adding: “At my level, at least, we’ve had a pretty cleareyed, sober assessment of where we’ve made real progress and where we have not. | “It’s not as if I’ve been receiving wonderfully rosy, glowing portraits of what’s been going on in Iraq and Syria over the last year and a half,” he said, adding: “At my level, at least, we’ve had a pretty cleareyed, sober assessment of where we’ve made real progress and where we have not. |
| In Washington on Sunday, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he had not seen any evidence of altered intelligence reports during his tenure at the Pentagon, from early 2013 to February of this year. | |
| “Now, that doesn’t mean something couldn’t happen below the secretary of defense’s office,” Mr. Hagel said in an interview on “State of the Union,” on CNN. “You can’t monitor everything.” | |
| Mr. Hagel noted that “conflict between our military on the ground versus different intelligence groups” was nothing new. | |
| Mr. Obama said he would not relent in the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and pledged to “take back their land” and “cut off their financing” and “hunt down their leadership” with what he called an intensifying strategy on all fronts. | Mr. Obama said he would not relent in the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and pledged to “take back their land” and “cut off their financing” and “hunt down their leadership” with what he called an intensifying strategy on all fronts. |
| He repeatedly described the group’s members as little more than thugs with guns who have little or no ability to “strike a mortal blow” against the United States or France. | |
| He rejected the use of the term “mastermind” to describe the man believed to have planned and helped execute the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13. He said the man “got his hands on some fairly conventional weapons, and sadly it turns out if you are willing to die, you can kill a lot of people.” | |
| “The most powerful tool we have to fight ISIL is to say that we’re not afraid,” he said, “to not elevate it, to not somehow buy into their fantasy that they are doing something important.” | “The most powerful tool we have to fight ISIL is to say that we’re not afraid,” he said, “to not elevate it, to not somehow buy into their fantasy that they are doing something important.” |
| He called the group merely “a bunch of killers, with good social media.” | He called the group merely “a bunch of killers, with good social media.” |
| Mr. Obama said the world leaders scheduled to arrive in Paris next week for climate talks must demonstrate by their presence that the attacks would not succeed in blocking progress. | |
| “It is absolutely vital for every country, every leader, to send a signal that the viciousness of a handful of killers does not stop the world from doing important business,” he said, pledging that “we are not going to be cowed by the violent, demented actions of a few.” | “It is absolutely vital for every country, every leader, to send a signal that the viciousness of a handful of killers does not stop the world from doing important business,” he said, pledging that “we are not going to be cowed by the violent, demented actions of a few.” |
| As he had done all week, Mr. Obama said he was seeking more aggressive action from other nations, including France and Russia, in the military fight against the Islamic State and in the diplomatic effort to end the civil war in Syria. | As he had done all week, Mr. Obama said he was seeking more aggressive action from other nations, including France and Russia, in the military fight against the Islamic State and in the diplomatic effort to end the civil war in Syria. |
| He said there was “increasing awareness” on the part of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that the group posed a greater threat to his country than anything else in the region. | He said there was “increasing awareness” on the part of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that the group posed a greater threat to his country than anything else in the region. |
| Mr. Obama expressed confidence about the ultimate outcome of the military campaign, saying that destroying the Islamic State — with the Russians or without them — is a realistic goal. “It’s gonna get done,” he said. | Mr. Obama expressed confidence about the ultimate outcome of the military campaign, saying that destroying the Islamic State — with the Russians or without them — is a realistic goal. “It’s gonna get done,” he said. |
| But he returned several times to the idea that Americans must not change the way they treat other people or demand unreasonable legal changes because they are fearful of another attack. He noted that Times Square in New York — not so far from the site of attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 — is now often filled with people. | But he returned several times to the idea that Americans must not change the way they treat other people or demand unreasonable legal changes because they are fearful of another attack. He noted that Times Square in New York — not so far from the site of attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 — is now often filled with people. |
| “They can’t beat us on the battlefield, so they try to terrorize us into being afraid,” Mr. Obama said. “As president, I will not let that happen.” | “They can’t beat us on the battlefield, so they try to terrorize us into being afraid,” Mr. Obama said. “As president, I will not let that happen.” |