Story highlights Michael Flynn claimed in a speech that most education in the Middle East takes place in madrasas that are "hate factories."

Experts say Flynn's claim shows a profound misunderstanding of education in the Middle East

(CNN) Incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn claimed in a speech this year that most education in the Middle East takes place in Islamic religious schools called madrasas and that those schools are "hate factories."

Experts say Flynn's claim, which was uncovered as part of a CNN KFile review of Flynn's past statements, shows a profound misunderstanding of education in the Middle East and expressed concern about how Flynn's views would affect his policy recommendations as the national security adviser to president-elect Donald Trump.

Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, made the comment in January during a seminar hosted by the Endowment for Middle East Truth.

Arguing that Middle Eastern education systems were deficient because "most of their education now is in these madrasas," Flynn said, "It's an easy, it's sort of a, and, I'm sort being a little bit, but it's a poor man's school. You know? Get them in here and they just become factories for the most part. For the most part what I've seen, at least the ones that I've looked at and probably I'm always looking at, you know, the where the bad or the ugly spots are, but most of those are hate factories. I'm sorry. Most of those are hate factories."

"If there's one where they're truly teaching the, you know, the fundamentals of the Quran, OK." he continued. "But why, you know, maybe, but why is it that we still see the problems that we see?"

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