Flynn: Obama ignored ISIL intel to fit re-election 'narrative'
US President Barack Obama ignored early warnings about the rise of Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group in 2011 and 2012 because they did not fit his re-election “narrative,” according to the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
"I think that they did not meet a narrative the White House needed. And I'll be very candid with you, they just didn't," retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said Tuesday on CNN's "The Lead."
"I think the narrative was that al-Qaeda was on the run, and [Osama] bin Laden was dead,” he added. “‘They're dead and ... we've beaten them.’”
The comments further give credence to the critics’ assertion that the Obama administration has continuously downplayed Daesh even as the terror group expanded its territory in Iraq and Syria.
Obama has been widely criticized for once referring to Daesh as a “JV” team. The president last month claimed that the terror network was “contained” just before the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, which Daesh claimed responsibility for.
In the 2012 campaign, Obama said al-Qaeda had been “decimated” and boasted of killing its leader Osama bin Laden.
Flynn, a critic of Obama’s Middle East policies, said the president was circled by a small cadre of advisers who were more worried about his re-election at the time.
The former intelligence leader also warned that the US is susceptible to a terror attack similar to the one in Paris.
"I really do believe it's a matter of time,” he said, “Our luck is going to run out and they are going to be able to achieve something along the lines of what we saw in Paris.”
The Pentagon’s inspector general has launched an inquiry into allegations that intelligence reports about Daesh were selectively edited to make the US military campaign against the terrorist group look more successful.
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