U.S. intelligence agencies remain uncertain about danger posed by Islamic State - The Washington Post

U.S. intelligence agencies remain uncertain about danger posed by Islamic State - The Washington Post: Hours before President Obama announced a new U.S. military offensive against the Islamic State, one of his top counter­terrorism officials testified to Congress that the al-Qaeda offshoot had an estimated 10,000 fighters.

The next day a new assessment arrived from the CIA: The terrorist organization’s ranks had more than doubled in recent months, surging to somewhere between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters across Iraq and Syria.

The enormous discrepancy reflects, in part, significant uncertainty among U.S. intelligence agencies over the dimensions and danger posed by America’s latest Islamist adversary.

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