In an interview with Al Jazeera, the former director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency is slamming President Obama with alarming revelations about the creation and growth of the Islamic State. Retired Army Lt. Michael T. Flynn says that the White House made a “willful decision” to allow ISIS to form and grow in the hopes that it would unite Sunnis against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
To hear Flynn tell it, Obama is lying when he says that the administration was surprised by the growth of the terrorist army:
Al Jazeera: 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.
AJ: 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.
AJ: 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.
Well, this news should not come as a shock to anyone familiar with American history, much less the Obama administration. This is more or less the story of our foreign policy for the last fifty years, creating monsters to do battle with different sets of monsters. And inevitably, it comes back to bite us in the ass. One can only wonder which of the factions we’re currently supporting in the fight against ISIS will turn around and attack us in a decade. The cycle continues.
Even so, this is a blunder worthy of the hall of shame. President Obama not only gave ISIS room to grow by pulling out of Iraq before it was strategically wise, he actively watched them become the biggest terrorist organization in the world. You can say that he didn’t know this would happen – and that would be accurate – but you can’t defend the ignorance. ISIS grew out of Al Qaeda. There’s simply no excuse.
Alas, the cat is out of the bag. The focus now needs to be on destroying this group. Unfortunately, Obama still seems to have no strategy worth a damn. We’re pouring billions of dollars into this mediocre air campaign and getting little to show for it. There has already been some administration speculation on simply letting ISIS have their conquered territory. Perhaps we’ll see them represented at the UN in the coming years. Liberals can start taking up the ISIS cause when they feel particularly rebellious and edgy. We’ll hear Hollywood stars talk about them like they were freedom fighters.
The cycle continues, indeed.
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