The State Department admitted that no “fresh data and analysis” came in Wednesday evening that compelled Secretary of State John Kerry to declare the Islamic State’s treatment of Christians as genocide, even though State said a day earlier that it was still waiting on more information before Kerry could make a decision.
On Wednesday, the State Department announced that Kerry needed more information, and that it would miss a congressionally mandated deadline for deciding whether it could declare the Islamic State’s actions as genocide.
“[Secretary Kerry] just wants to be able to base his decision on the best evidence available, and he has requested additional evidence,” State spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday.
“The Secretary has urged his team here at the department as well as the broader intelligence community, and even the NGO community, to provide as much information and evidence as possible so that he can make the best decision possible. And if this has delayed the process, we believe it’s worth it,” Toner said.
But by early Thursday, the department changed its tune, and was able to announce that the terrorist group’s actions did constitute genocide, even though no new information had come in.
“I don’t know that I would describe like ‘fresh data and analysis’ coming in the last 24 hours,” State spokesman John Kirby said of the apparent about-face. “But clearly there was more staff work that needed to be done.”
