Eli Lake, Columnist

U.S. Saw Islamic State Coming, Let It Take Ramadi

The military could stop the fighters, if it had Obama's permission.

May 28, 2015 at 6:39 PM UTC

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

Fighting the Islamic State is a lonely job.
Photographer: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

The U.S. watched Islamic State fighters, vehicles and heavy equipment gather on the outskirts of Ramadi before the group retook the city in mid-May. But the U.S. did not order airstrikes against the convoys before the battle started. It left the fighting to Iraqi troops, who ultimately abandoned their positions.

U.S. intelligence and military officials told me recently, on the condition of anonymity, that the U.S. had significant intelligence about the pending Islamic State offensive in Ramadi. For the U.S. military, it was an open secret even at the time.