ADVERTISEMENT

Psaki: 'WH Did Not Overlook ISIL Threat'

September 29, 2014

State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said that the Obama administration did not overlook the threat posed by ISIL in an interview Monday with Luke Russert.

Psaki refuted criticism of the Obama administration after the president told CBS's Steve Kroft that the intelligence community "underestimated" the ISIL threat and "overestimated" the ability of the Iraqi army to fight the terrorist group.

"There's a difference between being aware of a threat and seeing the level the threat poses," Psaki said. "We've certainly been aware of ISIL, just like we've been aware of Khorasan. But the threat they pose, the strength they've built, has really grown over the past 6 to 8 months and we've correspondingly taken action over that time as well."

When asked if the Obama administration purposefully looked the other way as ISIL gained power in Iraq, Psaki vehemently denied such a notion:

"Absolutely not," Psaki said. "I think we're all talking about this, you're talking about it, people who are appearing on television around the country are talking about it because of some of the horrific incidents that recently happened, with the two beheadings of American citizens. But we have long been tracking this."

Psaki's defense of the administration comes as a number of politicians, including Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and former Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, have refuted Obama's claim that the U.S. intelligence community "underestimated" the ISIL threat.