Two congressional probes—one by Republicans and another by Democrats—separately concluded that the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) suppressed intelligence briefings to paint a more optimistic picture of the fight against ISIS under Austin’s leadership.
The Democratic investigation, led by Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), concluded that new rules set up under Austin’s command were “insufficiently accommodating of dissent” and “did produce more optimistic assessments of [Iraqi Security Force] strength relative to [ISIS’s].” The Republican report found that, according to an internal agency survey, 40 percent of CENTCOM intelligence analysts testified that “they had experienced an attempt to distort or suppress intelligence in the past year.”
Austin, CENTCOM commander from 2013 to 2016 and Biden’s pick for defense secretary, publicly claimed that the Obama administration was making “significant progress” against ISIS in fall 2014—just when the terrorist organization was reaching its largest territorial extent. Austin also told Congress that ISIS “is losing this fight” in March 2015, two months before terrorists captured Ramadi, a key city just miles from Baghdad.
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