President Obama told 60 Minutes host Steve Kroft that the rise of ISIL in Syria was due to "underestimation" by the U.S. intelligence community.
"I think our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria," Obama said.
Obama said because al Qaeda in Iraq was able to reconstitute itself during the chaos of the Syrian Civil War, Syria had, in effect, become "ground zero" for jihadists around the world.
Kroft pressed Obama further on his point about Clapper.
"He didn't just say that we underestimated ISIL, he said we overestimated the ability and the will of our allies, the Iraqi army, to fight," Kroft said.
"That's true," Obama said. "That's absolutely true."
President Obama's full interview with Kroft will air tonight at 7:00 P.M. EST.
