State Dept’s Harf: ‘Even ISIL Itself’ Was Surprised By How Quickly It Grew

State Dept’s Harf: ‘Even ISIL Itself’ Was Surprised By How Quickly It Grew (RealClearPolitics)

MARIE HARF, STATE DEPARTMENT: What the president said, for a long time we've known about the serious threat from ISIL. But I think everyone, us, the Iraqis, even ISIL itself, probably, was surprised by how quickly earlier this summer they were able to take territory in Iraq. They moved more quickly than anyone could have imagined. And, you know, assessing the will of a force to fight, the capability is one thing you can assess, but the will is a tough thing to assess. Having worked there (the CIA), I know these are challenging assessments to do.