Former Head of Defense Intelligence Agency Slams Administration for “Willful Decision” to Build Up Jihadis

Lt. General Michael Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), made an unprecedented, blunt accusation that the rise of the Islamic State (IS) was the result of a “willful decision,” — not an intelligence failure — by the Obama Administration.

Speaking to Mehdi Hasan, the host of Al Jazeera’s “Head to Head,” Flynn not only said that he read the 2012 DIA report that warned the Obama administration about the rise of the “Islamic State,” and the creation of a “caliphate” by Syria-based Islamists and Al Qaeda, but also went further than any other recently retired military official has up till now.

Flynn directly accused the Obama administration of making a “willful decision” to back the jihadis, when questioned by Hasan:

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.

Later in the interview, Hasan brought up arms flows to the rebels.

Hasan: In 2012 the U.S. was helping coordinate arms transfers to those same groups [Salafists, Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda in Iraq], why did you not stop that if you’re worried about the rise of quote-unquote Islamic extremists?

Flynn: I hate to say it’s not my job … but that … my job was to … was to ensure that the accuracy of our intelligence that was being presented was as good as it could be.

The Flynn interview was published on Levantreport.com, along with analysis that recounts how the State Department spokesperson, Maria Harf, and various news commentators, such as the Daily Beast, belittled the DIA analysis and presented the report as insignificant.  Flynn refutes that view completely, and he stressed that the DIA report was not only on-target, but that the Obama administration didn’t “listen” to the DIA’s analysts.