VOA: Experts: IS Skilled at Gathering Intelligence, Adjusting Tactics
While U.S. and coalition partners pluck intelligence on Islamic State extremists from the militants’ communications or movements and then bomb them from the air, the militant group is gathering its own intelligence from city streets and preparing the ground for its next battlefield moves.
The result, according to experts, is that Washington is consistently lagging behind in its effort to destroy the Islamic State group.
“We are about 60 to 90 days behind ISIS,” former intelligence officer and military adviser Michael Pregent told VOA, referring to the Islamic State by one of its acronyms.
WNU Editor: The U.S. gets its intelligence from surveillance drones/satellites and intercepted communications. The Islamic State gets its intelligence on the ground and through informers and/or supporters in the Iraqi government/military. With these dynamics at play, it is not hard to figure out who is ahead in this "intelligence game".