US lawmakers probe intelligence lapses over Russian Syrian move

Senior US lawmakers have begun probing possible intelligence lapses over Moscow’s intervention in Syria, concerned that American spy agencies were slow to grasp the scope and intention of Russia’s military offensive there, congressional sources report and other officials told Reuters. Findings of major blind spots would mark the latest of several US intelligence misses in recent years, including Moscow’s surprise takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea region last year and China’s rapid expansion of island-building activities in the South China Sea.