Congress hesitant to share IS intelligence with Putin, Assad
Lawmakers are ambivalent about greater cooperation in countering foreign fighters.
Members of Congress want more eyes on the Islamic State (IS). They would just rather the eyes not be Vladimir Putin's.
A bipartisan House Homeland Committee task force on Sept. 29 released a report on terrorist travel to Middle East conflict zones that bemoaned a lack of international cooperation in tracking would-be terrorists. The report laments the absence of a comprehensive strategy in the United States and calls on European nations to do more to keep tabs on its citizens as they travel to Syria, Iraq and Libya.
But the comprehensive report that is six months in the making was partly overtaken by the fast-evolving situation on the ground before it was even released. Russia's growing role in Syria and Iraq's announcement over the weekend of an intelligence-sharing agreement with Russia, Iran and Syria's pro-Assad forces left lawmakers grappling for answers.
"I will say the one thing we have in common with the Russians is our dislike for the terrorists," committee chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, told Al-Monitor. "The complication is their obvious support for [Bashar al-] Assad. And as long as Assad remains in power, he remains a magnet for the jihadists."
