TEMPO.CO, Washington - President Barack Obama claimed that United States agencies have underestimated the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He later said, as cited by the BBC, that the United States had "underestimated what had been taking place in Syria".
Obama added that Syria had become a "ground zero" for militants who had been able to take advantage of the chaos there. The jihadists had also gained a military capacity by absorbing remnants of Saddam Hussein's old army in Iraq.
Moreover, the president emphasized that ISIS is unlike al-Qaeda, which had been beaten in Iraq by US forces working with Sunni tribes. United States has also overestimated the ability or will of Iraq's US-trained military to fight the jihadists led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
ANINGTIAS JATMIKA | BBC
