Former DIA Chief Michael Flynn Says Rise Of ISIS Was A "Willful Decision" Of US Government

In an interview with Mehdi Hasan of al Jazeera, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn says that the decision to arm opposition to Syria's Bashar al-Assad went forward despite warnings that those weapons might fall into radical hands. Flynn says it was a "willful decision" by the Obama administration.





HASAN: You are basically saying that even in government at the time you knew these groups were around, you saw this analysis, and you were arguing against it, but who wasn’t listening?



FLYNN: I think the administration.



HASAN: So the administration turned a blind eye to your analysis?



FLYNN: I don’t know that they turned a blind eye, I think it was a decision. I think it was a willful decision.



HASAN: A willful decision to support an insurgency that had Salafists, Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood?



FLYNN: It was a willful decision to do what they’re doing.

HASAN: These people are not representatives of Islam, they are against other muslims more than anyone else, and yet you said on Fox News not so long ago: "I have been at war with Islam, or a component of Islam, for 15 years."



Isn't that the kind of inflammatory clash of civilizations holy war rhetoric that ISIL engages in? Isn't that what they want to hear?

On the beneficial affect that American apocalyptic rhetoric has for the Islamic State: