Congress probing US spy agencies’ possible lapses on Russian offensive in Syria

http://atimes.com/2015/10/congress-probing-us-spy-agencies-possible-lapses-on-russia/

Congress probing US spy agencies’ possible lapses on Russian offensive in Syria
By AT Editor on October 8, 2015

Senior US lawmakers have begun probing possible intelligence lapses over Moscow’s intervention in Syria, concerned that American spy agencies were slow to grasp the scope and intention of Russia’s dramatic military offensive there, US congressional sources and other officials said.

A week after Russia plunged directly into Syria’s civil war by launching a campaign of air strikes, the intelligence committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives want to examine the extent to which the spy community overlooked or misjudged critical warning signs, the sources said.

Findings of major blind spots would mark the latest of several US intelligence misses in recent years, including Moscow’s surprise takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea region last year and China’s rapid expansion of island-building activities in the South China Sea.

Though spy agencies have sought to ramp up intelligence gathering on Russia since the crisis over Ukraine, they continue to struggle with inadequate resources because of the emphasis on counter-terrorism in the Middle East and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, according to current and former US officials.

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While our congresscritters are " probing US spy agencies" they should also ask the NSA where illegal opioid drugs are coming from.