The Pentagon is investigating whether military officials misled policy makers in the United States by suggesting that efforts to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) have been more successful than they have been in reality, according to a report.
Citing anonymous U.S. officials, the New York Times reports that a civilian defense analyst blew the whistle on officials in a key division of the U.S. armed forces that had revised intelligence reports to make campaigns sound more successful. The intelligence reports have landed on the desk of key policy makers, including President Barack Obama.
The investigation, a rarity in given the often subjective nature of many intelligence assessments, is being handled by the inspector general at the Department of Defense.
The conclusion of the investigation has implications for ongoing U.S. efforts to weaken ISIS. The U.S. has led bombing campaigns against the extremist group, among other efforts.
Read more at the New York Times
See ISIS’s Destruction of the Ancient City Palmyra
![Mideast Syria This undated photo released Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by Islamic State militants, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows smoke from the detonation of the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra. A resident of the city said the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month after the group's militants booby-trapped it with explosives. Arabic at bottom reads, "The moment of detonation of the pagan Baalshamin temple in the city of Palmyra." (Islamic State social media account via AP)](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/mideast-syria_gros.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Mideast Syria This undated photo released Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by Islamic State militants, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows shows militants laying explosives in the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra. A resident of the city said the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month after the group's militants booby-trapped it with explosives. The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO on Monday called the destruction of the temple a war crime. (Islamic State social media account via AP)](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/palmyra-2.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Mideast Syria This undated photo released Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by Islamic State militants, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra rigged with explosives. A resident of the city said the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month after the group's militants booby-trapped it with explosives. The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO on Monday called the destruction of the temple a war crime. (Islamic State social media account via AP)](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/palmyra-3.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Mideast Syria This undated photo released Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by Islamic State militants, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows the demolished 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra. A resident of the city said the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month after the group's militants booby-trapped it with explosives. The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO on Monday called the destruction of the temple a war crime. (Islamic State social media account via AP)](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/palmyra-4.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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Write to Justin Worland at justin.worland@time.com