Obama Says U.S. Intelligence Underestimated Developments in Syria

By Damian Paletta And Kristina Peterson 

President Barack Obama said that U.S. intelligence officials "underestimated what had been taking place in Syria," and that several years of political chaos in the country had created an environment for Islamic State to thrive in Syria and Iraq.

"This became ground zero for Jihadists around the world," he said in an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes program, according to an excerpt aired by CBS on Sunday morning.

He said Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL, was able to attract former members of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's military and bring a more sophisticated military strategy to the movement. This "gave them some traditional military capacity and not just terrorist capacity."

He said U.S. and international partners, particularly in the Middle East, would have to "come up with political solutions in Iraq and Syria," but the near-term plan was to destabilize ISIL.

"We just have to push them back and shrink their space and go after their command and control...and work to eliminate the flow of foreign fighters," he said.

The full 60 Minutes program is slated to air Sunday evening.

Also on CBS, White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said the U.S. military would continue airstrikes but not send troops into the conflicts.

"We've been clear that there will not be a U.S. ground invasion of Iraq or Syria," he said. He left the door open, however, to the idea that a "no fly zone" could be established over Syria at some point.

On ABC News "This Week," House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) indicated that sending in American combat troops could become necessary to eliminate the threat posed by Islamic State.

While Mr. Obama has said he opposes sending in U.S. "boots on the ground" to destroy the Islamic State militants, Mr. Boehner suggested U.S. combat troops might be needed if the international coalition cannot defeat the militants.

"At some point somebody's boots have to be on the ground," Mr. Boehner said. So far the White House and its allies have deployed airstrikes against the militants and are preparing to train pro-Western Syrian rebels on the ground.

Earlier this month, Congress authorized the White House to train and equip the moderate Syrian rebels to fight against Islamic State extremists. But many Republicans have said they are not convinced the administration's strategy will be forceful enough to eradicate the danger posed by the militants.

"Maybe we can get enough of these forces trained and get them on the battlefield," Mr. Boehner said. But if the international coalition doesn't come together, "we have no choice," Mr. Boehner said of the possibility of sending in U.S. fighters. "These are barbarians. They intend to kill us. And if we don't destroy them first, we're going to pay the price."

Write to Damian Paletta at [e-mail] and Kristina Peterson at [e-mail]

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