Ex-US Intelligence Chief on Islamic State's Rise: 'We Were Too Dumb'

Ex-US Intelligence Chief on Islamic State's Rise: 'We Were Too Dumb'
(spiegel.de)

Without the Iraq war, Islamic State wouldn't exist today, former US special forces chief Mike Flynn openly admits. In an interview, he explains IS' rise to become a professional force and how the Americans allowed its future leader to slip out of their hands.

Michael Flynn, 56, served in the United States Army for more than 30 years, most recently as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he was the nation's highest-ranking military intelligence officer. Previously, he served as assistant director of national intelligence inside the Obama administration. From 2004 to 2007, he was stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, where, as commander of the US special forces, he hunted top al-Qaida terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of the predecessors to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who today heads the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq. After Flynn's team located Zarqawi's whereabouts, the US killed the terrorist in an air strike in June 2006.

In an interview, Flynn explains the rise of the Islamic State and how the blinding emotions of 9/11 led the United States in the wrong direction strategically.

Well, he is a former special forces chief, so he can now speak the truth without too many reprisals.

Maliki also shares a huge part of the blame, his division of Iraq along sectarian lines really pushed those he opposed into creating AQI and later ISIS.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

Seems that our attempts in the ME , to instill our system of values, have all back-fired ....Afghanistan, Iraq , Libya and now Syria. What further blowback will we see if Turkey and the U.S. prove to have been aiding and supporting ISIL ?

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

And people are still going crook at Russia for stepping in and having an intervention.

Lol, just lol.

One day America is going to have to pay for it's wrongs, but for now I'd just be happy for them to admit they have it wrong and sit down and work out a real plan with Putin to overcome this evil that they created instead of supporting NATO mates who are corrupt to the bone (Turkey)

He's actually saying the same as 9/11, but when you look at it in that respect, he is talking immediate post 9/11. Dumb and Dumber if you believe that, and I do not.
As for the IS MO, that is exactly the same as the IRA, autonomous cells, one reason why today you get ex provo IRA leaders talking about atrocities they supposedly had no input to, the same could be said of opposing factions.
Whatever, the IS are soldiers of fortune, they are paid..did he mention that?
In the case of the IRA, a certain bank in Northern Ireland was robbed of £10 million+ at a time when a permanent peace was made, even referred to as the IRA's pension pot on at least one local newscast I heard.
Makes me sick, when I think what happened, makes me sick what is happening now.

Don't tell me, Trump was right, again!?

2nd

originally posted by: markosity1973
a reply to: Blackmarketeer

And people are still going crook at Russia for stepping in and having an intervention.

Lol, just lol.

One day America is going to have to pay for it's wrongs, but for now I'd just be happy for them to admit they have it wrong and sit down and work out a real plan with Putin to overcome this evil that they created instead of supporting NATO mates who are corrupt to the bone (Turkey)

I think what disgusts me most is Americans feel so helpless that they need Russia to save them from their governments. It's bull#.

Russia may have thwarted this most recent attempt by Turkey/SA/NATO to seize control of Syria but Russia is well aware of the potential consequences. It's already been shown that the west isn't afraid of cranking it up a notch as evidenced by the downing of a passenger plane and Russian bomber.

We shouldn't encourage these madmen to provoke WWIII, we instead need to ensure that a spotlight shines in the darkest corners in the ME and here in the west. Our officials need to be held accountable.

It's election season and they're giving us a "choice" of Clinton or Trump? ......Guys.

"This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the Red pill, the story ends and you believe whatever you want to believe. You take the Blue pill and I'll show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."