SOFREP recently conducted an interview with Retired Lt. General Michael T. Flynn, former DIA director, Army intelligence officer, and author of “The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies.”
Lt. General Michael T. Flynn felt the need to bring the “uncomfortable truth” to the surface, and as a result, was dismissed as the director of the DIA. What is the “uncomfortable truth” that the Obama administration doesn’t want you to hear? Radical Islamic terrorism is more powerful and has greater reach into the Western world than ever before, and we could lose the war if we don’t take action. Lt. General Michael T. Flynn states he wrote this book for two reasons: to show you the war being waged against us and to lay out a winning strategy.
His book, “The Field of Fight” is available on Amazon now. You can read the book review HERE.
Interview:
1) You went from an electronic warfare platoon leader to the DIA director in a 33-year time period, did you ever imagine as a young second lieutenant that you would reach far as you did? What advice would you offer for those seeking to become an Army intelligence officer?
FLYNN: I never thought an Irish Catholic kid from a small town in a small state, not having attended West Point would get past my initial term of service. What I did know was the value of hard work, an instilled sense of discipline, how to work as a member of a team (growing up in a family of 11 certainly helped out here), and being able to admit mistakes. Two important aspects of my upbringing were the important lessons of the Golden Rule—treat others like you like to be treated—that was something that was instilled in me by my father (Charlie Flynn). He was a tough, no-nonsense retired SFC who fought in WWII and the Korean War. No matter who you were, as long as you added value to whatever we did growing up, whether delivering lots of newspapers or playing sports, you were going to learn the value of teamwork. And the second big lesson I took from my mother was the lesson of being a life long learner. Keep learning no matter how smart you think you are or get, you can always learn and that is still something I apply today. We have to accept that we don’t have the answers to everything and you must find them in others by being a good listener and being willing to do the work to study and try to understand new things. For instance, the evolution of warfare, throughout my career went from the Cold War to fighting terrorism. And if I learned anything it is the inability for large forces to be able to adapt rapidly enough. This is both a mindset and a capability. Each has to be constantly worked on in our military forces today and into the future. Lastly, we MUST continue to strengthen the idea of the “Warrior Culture.” We have to be careful that we don’t create a “nurturing” military class. That class will lose against a determined foe. We MUST have warriors who will fight to win.
2) You talk quite a bit on how Iran has targeted, killed, and maimed Americans, as well as, how they are very strategic with their operations in the Middle East. What is your perspective on the Iran nuclear deal? What else are we unaware of?
FLYNN: It is a disastrous deal and in it still has yet to be signed by the way, and Iran is getting away with an unbelievable amount of violations. There is nothing good I can say about the Islamic Republic of Iran other than to say, I trust that the people of Iran want freedom and a better way of life and if there are ways we can help them, we should. But until Iran acts with more internationally acceptable behavior, they should not be able to operate freely in the global internationally community. For nearly four decades, we have listed them as the number one state sponsor of terrorism…how did that suddenly change with a lousy deal? Did they suddenly stop saying hateful things about us and Israel. No! They did not. We got bamboozled in this deal because our policy of appeasement to this anti-American government lost sight of our own values and morals and what our country was built upon. So many more things should have been brought into the negotiations but due to our own political weaknesses, we failed to negotiate a deal that was in our favor.
3) How would you alter the intelligence community to defeat radical Islam?
FLYNN: Demand that our senior intelligence leaders always tell the truth and be prepared to back their analysis up. And find new ways to rapidly share information with our foreign partners around the world. Lastly, seek ways to better support our war fighting commanders at the COCOM and JTF levels around the world. Strengthen the integration of our Operations and intelligence components of our nation…(defense, Intel and other national and select international tools and partners).
4) How does America move past its fascination with political correctness in order to identify and label the current threat which is radical Islamic terrorism?
FLYNN: How about starting with telling the truth.
5) What is your opinion on the vetting system for accepting Muslim refuges into America?
FLYNN: Our vetting process for all immigrants entering the country has to be improved. This is where some federal resources could be offered to those in our homeland security and law enforcement communities. Use of advanced but simple technologies such as biometrics and rapid transfer of data, simplified databases that are shareable AND above all else, an accountability of those managing this from top to bottom. And we must recognize the threat of infiltration by our enemies; they have stated they will use the refugee crisis to infiltrate into our homeland.
6) What is your opinion on placing Syrian refugees in rural communities? If the goal is to encourage assimilation into American society, why segregate them in a rural environment?
FLYNN: We have to much better understand who and specifically where these refugees are coming from. We are a nation of immigrants. I’m of Irish descent. But knowing that an organization like ISIS has stated it’s intent to infiltrate into these refugee populations, we must be smart about what we are doing. Establishing some sort of vetting system so we know who they are, we capture their background and we are able to legally and properly assimilate them into our country. It is not a right to be an American, it is a privilege to be an American
7) As an intelligence professional with 33+ years in the field, how do you feel about former Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton leaking top secret and secret documents as well as leaving her network server open to hacking by foreign adversaries? Do you believe sources or case officers were targeted as a result of the leaks?
FLYNN: I believe that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, through her totally irresponsible actions and complete disregard for national security, placed our nation’s security at grave risk. She demonstrated a complete lack of accountability to the American public in her actions and then attempted to hide what she did. She has no business running for President of the United States or serving as our Commander in Chief. Her actions and the continuos scandal after scandal surrounding her (and those select members of her staff that were aware) shows a complete lack of concern for the lives of many serving bravely around the world as well as for the future security of our country. Our toughest adversaries were laughing at how much of a meal was on the silver plate of intelligence food that she was knowingly serving up to them to steal. The American public needs to wake up when it comes comes to these type actions and behavior. If she had any morals or scruples, for the good of our country, she should step down from running for the highest office in the land immediately.
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