ISIS rise surprised Obama, US intelligence

[think]

ISIS rise surprised Obama, US intelligence

By Kevin Liptak, CNN White House Producer
Updated 12:35 PM ET, Wed December 7, 2016

Washington (CNN)ISIS' march across Iraq and Syria -- a campaign that's forced President Barack Obama to return small numbers of US troops to the region, even after touting an end to the decade-long ground offensives there -- came as a surprise to US intelligence, the President told CNN in a new special report.

The terror organization's rise in a tumultuous Middle East has provided Obama some of the toughest decisions of his presidency, choices that CNN's Fareed Zakaria explores in "The Legacy of Barack Obama" airing Wednesday.

"The ability of ISIL to not just mass inside of Syria, but then to initiate major land offensives that took Mosul, for example, that was not on my intelligence radar screen," Obama told Zakaria, using the administration's term for the Islamic State terror group.

As Obama's presidency concludes, it's clearer than ever he'll depart the White House with Syrians facing nearly unyielding misery.

The city of Aleppo has become a nightmare for the tens of thousands of Syrians still living there, short on food and medical supplies as cold winter weather sets in. The conflict has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, spurred a destabilizing refugee crisis in Europe, and led to the rise of a terror group that Obama admits he didn't see coming....

Read more:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/07/politics/isis-surprise-obama/

[TheBlackAdder]

1. What can a religious zealot be offered to flip to become a mole, when their afterlife is paramount?

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Their organization, and many religious groups are tough to place informants into, when their goals are not worldly possessions, but rewards in the afterlife. Mostly cash, sex, grandiose treatment or blackmail works to flip or attract someone to work as an agent.

These folks are driven by different desires, religion, and they can not be bought/convinced to betray their faith.


Anyone from the outside would be easily detected, so the only option is trying to flip someone, which doesn't happen.


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