Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is now retired, so he has no problem
setting history straight. During an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel, Flynn admitted that the
Bush administration was “too dumb” to realize they had captured Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi.
So they released him because they didn’t deem him a threat. Now,
the guy is the top commander of the terrorist group known as ISIS. Here is a bit
of the transcript of that interview:
Flynn:
We were too dumb. We didn’t understand who we had there at that moment. When
9/11 occurred, all the emotions took over, and our response was, “Where did
those bastards come from? Let’s go kill them. Let’s go get them.” Instead of
asking why they attacked us, we asked where they came from. Then we
strategically marched in the wrong direction.
Then Flynn confirmed that invading Iraq in response to 9/11 was
a huge blunder by the Bush Administration, because the resulting
destabilization of the region led to the formation of ISIS, which has ravaged
Syria and Iraq ever since American forces pulled out because of a status of
forces agreement Bush signed before leaving office.
Flynn acknowledged that the
focus should have been on Osama bin Laden instead of Saddam Hussein.
SPIEGEL
ONLINE: The US invaded Iraq even though Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with
9/11.
Flynn:
First we went to Afghanistan, where al-Qaida was based. Then we went into Iraq.
Instead of asking ourselves why the phenomenon of terror occurred, we were
looking for locations. This is a major lesson we must learn in order not to
make the same mistakes again.
SPIEGEL
ONLINE: The Islamic State wouldn’t be where it is now without the fall of
Baghdad. Do you regret …
Flynn:
… yes, absolutely …
SPIEGEL
ONLINE: … the Iraq war?
Flynn:
It was huge error. As brutal as Saddam Hussein was, it was a mistake to just
eliminate him. The same is true for Moammar Gadhafi and for Libya, which is now
a failed state. The historic lesson is that it was a strategic failure to go
into Iraq. History will not be and should not be kind with that decision.
When President Obama took over the presidency, he turned
America’s focus back on Osama bin Laden and ordered the strike that resulted in
the Al-Qaeda leader’s demise in 2011 at the hands of Seal Team Six.
President Obama has since had to deal with the rise of ISIS
because of Bush’s folly. And conservatives have tried to blame President Obama
for ISIS from the first time the terror group began its reign of terror.
But the fact is that Bush is ultimately responsible for ISIS
because he destabilized the entire region by illegally invading a country we
didn’t need to invade. And we have been paying for that disastrous decision
ever since, and could continue to do so well into the future.
That’s why we need to listen to Flynn when he says we need to
learn from this mistake and never let it happen again. And that means rejecting
every single Republican presidential candidate who is just itching to use
military force as soon as they sit in the Oval Office chair.