Intel loopholes

Congress probing possible intelligence lapses on Russia

Senior U.S. lawmakers, tired of being blindsided by Russia, have begun probing possible intelligence lapses over Moscow’s military intervention in Syria.

Lawmakers are concerned that spy agencies were too slow to grasp the scope and intention of Russia’s military buildup in the region. Now the Senate and House intelligence committees are questioning the extent to which the intelligence community overlooked critical warning signs, congressional sources told Reuters.

If the blind spots exist, the findings would mark the latest of several intelligence loopholes discovered in recent years, including the failure to anticipate Moscow’s surprise takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea last year and China’s rapid build-up of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.