Retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn told an audience at the Heritage Foundation on July 13 that America is at risk of not surviving this century if it does not face the threat of radical islamic terrorism, saying “we’ve forgotten how to win wars.”
Flynn has been touted as a possible vice presidential pick for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Flynn is promoting his recent new book, The Field of Fight, in which he calls radical Islam a threat “dead set on taking us over and drinking our blood.”
Flynn portrayed radical Islam as a threat so great it could overwhelm the American way of life, and in his book warns that extremists are inching “toward creating an Islamic state right here at home.” Flynn also questioned the administration’s commitment to defeating radical islam, asking the audience to recall American commitment to defeating Nazism and Communism during the 20th century. “When you go to war, you go to war to win,” Flynn said recalling these victories.
He particularly took issue with the Obama administration’s use of territory as a measure of success against ISIS, saying, “I don’t care if they don’t lose Raqqa, I don’t care if they lose Fallujah.” Flynn elaborated, “they have assumed is a global strategy, and the strategy we have is tactical.” The Obama administration has continually defined success against ISIS in terms of the amount of territory seized from the group, and has not yet developed a strategy for dealing with the reversion of ISIS back to a terrorist group.
Flynn also criticized President Obama’s deal with Russian President Putin in which the U.S. will share information on Al Qaeda targets inside Russia, saying Obama should have asked Putin to pressure Iran to withdraw from Syria. The Daily Beast reported on July 13, the higher echelons of Pentagon and U.S. intelligence community are concerned Obama does not appreciate the consequences of his decision.
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