WASHINGTON, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - US President Barack Obama has not abdicated on his responsibility for US special forces underestimating the Islamic State (IS) threat, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.
"The President of the United States is the commander-in-chief," Earnest said. "And he often talks about how he is the one responsible for protecting the national security interests of United States of America all around the globe,” he added.
Earnest explained that the US President still relies on the advice from the military, diplomatic and intelligence leadership and maintains full confidence in the intelligence he receives from the US security team and in its senior officials.
On Sunday Obama said that the US intelligence agencies underestimated Islamic State activity inside Syria, receiving criticism from the anonymous representatives of the country’s intelligence community, who said that the President has been timely warned about the threat.
Since 2012, Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting against the Syrian government. In June 2014, the IS launched an offensive in northern and western Iraq and declared the establishment of a caliphate on the territories under its control.
A US-led international coalition is currently carrying out airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq and Syria.
