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U.S. NEWSFriday 11 September 2015

Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon. Carter has White House: Obama planning

reminded the Pentagon’s senior intelligence corps that they are expected to give him their to admit more Syrian refugees

unvarnished views, amid allegations that the military command overseeing the war against the D. SUPERVILLE
Associated Press
Islamic State distorted or altered intelligence assessments to exaggerate progress against the WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is making plans
to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the coming bud-
military group, officials said Sept. 10. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) get year, a significant increase from the 1,500 people
who have been cleared to resettle in the U.S. since
Carter demands honest war intelligence civil war broke out in the Middle Eastern country more
than four years ago, the White House said Thursday.
ROBERT BURNS this secretary expects on a rebels to form an effective The White House has been under heavy pressure to
AP National Security Writer daily basis,” Cook said. ground force against IS. do more than just provide money to help meet the
WASHINGTON (AP) — De- Publicly, many senior civil- Cook was asked Thursday growing humanitarian crisis in Europe. Tens of thou-
fense Secretary Ash Carter ian and military officials whether Carter shares sands of people from war-torn countries in the Mid-
has reminded the Penta- have said that while the Dempsey’s view that the dle East and Africa are risking their lives and dying en
gon’s senior intelligence counter-IS fight is difficult war is stalemated. masse during desperate attempts to seek safe haven
corps that they are ex- and likely to drag on for “I don’t know if he on the continent.
pected to give him their years, the U.S.-led coalition would use the exact words The refugees from Syria, however, would be people
unvarnished views, amid is making significant prog- as Chairman Dempsey, who are already in the pipeline and waiting to be let
allegations that the mili- ress against the militant but I think the secretary’s into the United States, not the thousands working their
tary command overseeing group in both Iraq and been candid about the way through eastern Europe after landing in Greece.
the war against the Islamic Syria, where they control difficulties, how hard this It was not immediately clear how admitting a larger
State distorted or altered large swaths of territory. fight’s gonna be, but that number of Syrian refugees who are in the processing
intelligence assessments Others have been more he does believe, ultimate- pipeline would help alleviate the crisis that European
to exaggerate progress circumspect. For example, ly, we’re gonna prevail, for countries are grappling with.
against the military group, Gen. Martin Dempsey, a variety of reasons,” Cook White House spokesman Josh Earnest said about $4
officials said Thursday. chairman of the Joint said. “He believes the strat- billion that the administration has provided to relief
Pentagon press secre- Chiefs of Staff, said while egy right now that is being agencies and others is the most effective way for
tary Peter Cook said that traveling in Europe this employed is the right strat- the U.S. to help shoulder the crisis, but that President
after it was publicly dis- week that the war is “tacti- egy.” Barack Obama has decided that admitting more Syr-
closed last month that cally stalemated.” Asked about Carter’s lev- ian refugees in the budget year that begins Oct. 1
the Pentagon’s inspector A U.S.-led air campaign el of concern that intel- would also help boost the U.S. response.
general was investigating against the Islamic State ligence reports reaching About 17,000 Syrians have been referred over the
allegations of skewed in- in Iraq and Syria has in- his desk may have been last few years to the U.S. for resettlement by the U.N.
telligence reports, Carter flicted considerable dam- improperly changed to refugee agency. About 1,500 are in the U.S., with an-
directed his top civilian age, but the U.S.-trained inflate war progress, Cook other 300 scheduled to be allowed in this month. That
intelligence officer to rein- Iraqi army has yet to re- said he would await the leaves about 15,000 Syrians waiting for the clearance
force the need for honest capture key cities lost over outcome of the inspec- process to conclude, according to the State Depart-
assessments, including at the past year, including tor general’s investigation, ment.
Central Command, which Ramadi, the capital of An- which was launched after Obama would like to admit 10,000 of those, accord-
oversees the war effort. bar province. Also, the U.S. an intelligence officer at ing to Earnest’s announcement.
“Unvarnished, transpar- has made little progress in Central Command lodged U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby also said
ent intelligence is what training moderate Syrian a complaint in July.q the 10,000 Syrians will come from the pool of 17,000
people referred to the U.S. by the U.N. agency.
Earnest said earlier this week that the administra-
tion has been looking at a “range of approaches”
for assistingU.S. allies with 340,000 people freshly ar-
rived from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Many are
fleeing parts of Iraq that are under the Islamic State
group’s control. The 1,500 Syrians who are resettling in
the U.S. represent a small percentage of the 11.6 mil-
lion people who have been chased out of the coun-
try or uprooted from their homes due to the civil war
in Syria.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told lawmakers
Wednesday that the U.S. will increase its worldwide
quota for resettling refugees by 5,000, from 70,000 to
75,000 next year — and the number could still rise, ac-
cording to two officials and a congressional aide who
requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting.q