Last spring, Truth In Media reported on a newly declassified DIA document from 2012 confirming that arming the anti-Assad rebel forces and Islamist groups would lead to the emergence of ISIS.

“… there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist Principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran).” – DIA report warning the rise of ISIS.

The media ignored this important memo and some dismissed it as conspiracy.

But the report seemed to prove that Washington ignored an important intelligence report that was widely circulated, and that the administration had a major role in the rise of ISIS by supporting radical rebel groups.

- Newsletter -

Now we know the truth.

Brad Hoff of AntiWar.com wrote, “In Al Jazeera’s latest Head to Head episode, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn confirms to Mehdi Hasan that not only had he studied the DIA memo predicting the West’s backing of an Islamic State in Syria when it came across his desk in 2012, but even asserts that the White House’s sponsoring of radical jihadists (that would emerge as ISIL and Nusra) against the Syrian regime was ‘a willful decision.'”

[RELATED: Exclusive: Brad Hoff Discusses DIA Report, Mainstream Media Coverage of Syria]

There are some big takeaways from Lieutenant General Michael Flynn’s interview.

Flynn, the director of the Department of Intelligence, reported directly to the White House, Joint Chiefs, and Secretary of Defense. Flynn had read the DIA report and said, “I paid very close attention to it- I argued about it.”

Hasan asked Flynn: “Did you say we should’t be supporting these groups?” Flynn answered, “Yes.”

Ultimately the Obama administration made the decision to arm radical jihadists instead of heeding intelligence that warned them of the rise of ISIS.

Flynn acknowledged that his warning against arming radical groups in Syria were ignored and that there was a “willful decision” to arm and support radical jihadists that ultimately gave rise to ISIS.

Independent journalists like Brad Hoff and Nafeez Ahmed have gotten it right while the mainstream media has been wrong or silent. Contrary to the mainstream media’s assertion that the DIA report was trivial and not worth coverage, it turned out that it was. According to Flynn, a high level, critical document that was used to argue against supporting al-Qaeda in Syria to top officers in Washington.

[RELATED: Exclusive: Journalist Dr. Nafeez Ahmed Explains Media Blackout on DIA – ISIS Report]

The Obama administration wasn’t weighing major decisions on a mere seven-page document of “an analyst’s biased opinion”, as the former Syrian ambassador Robert Ford describes the DIA report. The document points to a much broader conversation that took place at the time in Washington.

The simple truth is the Obama administration was confronted by the the Defense Intelligence Agency Director who urged them not to support these radical groups, but the Obama administration did so anyway. This was a decision that ultimately fueled the rise of ISIS.

It is important to note that Flynn is the highest-ranking level person to confirm that the U.S. is arming al-Qaeda and affiliates in Syria.

Watch Ben Swann’s Truth In Media episode covering the origin of ISIS below.

By Joshua Cook | Facebook | Twitter | Podcast