Senate Overseeing Intelligence Lapses Prior to Russia Strikes in Syria

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr said that possible US intelligence community failures to anticipate Russia’s decision to conduct airstrikes in Syria will be looked into.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — Possible US intelligence community failures to anticipate Russia’s decision to conduct airstrikes in Syria will be looked into, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr told Sputnik on Thursday.

"We are engaged very heavily in oversight as it relates to Russia’s movement to Syria," Burr said in response to reports of a possible Committee investigation.

On Thursday, media reported that lawmakers had begun a probe of US intelligence agencies, concerned that they were slow to recognize what became Russia’s military involvement in Syria’s fight against the ISIL.

Burr said he would not characterize the probe as "an investigation," but "oversight," just as they would oversee any intelligence issue in a battlespace.

The media report cited US officials’ concerns that Russia’s military assistance to Syria took the intelligence community by surprise, and marked "the latest of several US intelligence misses in recent years."

Another Senator on the Intelligence Committee confirmed to Sputnik that the committee was meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss the intelligence community's performance ahead of the Russian airstrikes in Syria.

On September 30, Russia began precision airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria, following a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.