Former Head of U.S. Special Forces Admits Islamic State Would Not Exist If Bush Didn’t Invade Iraq

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who served as head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from 2012 to 2014, has spoken out about the how the Iraq war has led to the rise of Islamic State terror group.

In an interview with the German Der Spiegel on Sunday, Flynn, who was in Afghanistan and Iraq as director of intelligence for the Joint Special Operations Command from 2004 to 2007, was asked about how the U.S arrested Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi back in February 2004 and released him, allowing him to go on and establish ISIS.

When Der Spiegel asked Flynn why the militant was released, he replied with the following statement:

“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.”

Alternet provides a portion of the interview in which Flynn goes on to admit that the occupation in Iraq was a mistake:

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 a 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.

Read more here.

Around 500,000 deaths resulted from the near decade-long Iraq war. Researchers estimate that about 60 percent of the deaths were violent, and have pointed to poor health infrastructure as the cause of the remaining 40 percent, emphasizing the lessons of providing sufficient healthcare following conflict.

—Posted by Roisin Davis

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