Former DIA Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.) argued that President Obama needs to admit his ISIS strategy isn’t working, and that the president “didn’t want to hear…this sort of drumbeat that this Islamic radicalism is on the rise” in an interview broadcast on Thursday’s “America’s Newsroom” on the Fox News Channel.
Flynn said, “I think that it’s about time that the coach figured out that he has a national security team, or certainly components of it, with his recent visit to the Pentagon and to the national counter-terrorism center. He’s not going to get a rosy picture from the counter-terrorism center today. He’s going to get a dire picture and it’s not going to be one of an organization, in terms of the Islamic State that’s setback or a JV team.”
Flynn continued, “I’ve been privileged to be able to read that particular document [presidential daily read book], and for the last few years, and I will tell you there is not a lot of good news in that. And I think that the president is finally coming to the realization that this problem is not just isolated in a place called Raqqa, Syria, it’s happening right here at home. … So, I mean, this is a problem. and it’s not a problem that’s going to go away with some speeches.”
Flynn added that the president, “didn’t want to hear something, you know, this sort of drumbeat that this Islamic radicalism is on the rise in a very, very big way, and they are growing in areas around the world, and we’ve seen all of the various attacks that we’ve seen in Europe, certainly in the United States. So, it — like I’ve said before, Martha, it didn’t meet a narrative that the president wanted to continue to say to the American public.”
Flynn also stated, “I would love to hear him say, ‘Look, we made a mistake. Our strategy isn’t working, and we are — we have made a big decision to make some changes, and we’re going to — and I’m going to come back to the american public in 30 days, and I’m going to give an entirely new strategy that i want to hand off to the next president, whoever that is to give them a stronger foundation.’ … And frankly, the president has not been able to do that. And I think that — either it’s him personally, or it’s the advisers around him, that are telling him stay the course, and we’ll get through the rest of your presidency. It’s just not going to work like that.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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