Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn predicted Monday that Iran is going to be the real victor in the fight to take back Mosul from the Islamic State.
“I think that what we have to do is we have to work with the Arab nations as much as we’re working with NATO and Iraq, and I will tell you at the end of the day, the big victor here in Mosul is likely Iran,” said the retired general on Fox News Monday after the Iraqi government announced it was launching the long-awaited initiative to regain Iraq’s last Islamic State stronghold. “Once it’s all said and done, I think that the Shiite, which is the Iranian-backed component of the Iraqi government right now, I think they are going to be the big winners here.”
The U.S. is providing air support and advisers for the operation, but may take weeks and even months to defeat the Islamic State. The Pentagon has sent 600 additional troops to support the action, bringing the number of U.S. forces in the country to about 5,200.
Flynn said he expected the fight to be much more complex than the invasion of Baghdad that started the second Iraq War. He argued that though the coalition forces may declare mission accomplished, the bigger question is what will happen after the battle is over.
“I would tell you that the complexity of Mosul is probably — it’s much greater than Baghdad, even though there’s fewer people,” he said, arguing the diverse demographics create a “very dynamic” city. “You are going to find it’s not so much the assault on Mosul … but it’s going to be what’s next, what’s the day after look like.
The retired general said though he understands the action is to destroy the roots of many international terror attacks, he doesn’t expect the operation to solve what he describes as the growing threat of radical Islamic terror. The Donald Trump supporter said if the GOP nominee wins, he will work with the “right” countries in Middle East to reduce the terror threat. He said that Trump understands radical Islamic “infiltration” in the U.S. will mean “we’re going to continue to see the rise of our own problems right here in the homeland.”
“[Trump] absolutely gets that. The problem we’re facing is not going to be solved in the attack into Mosul over the next couple of days. We have to deal with this ideology for a long time and until we come to grips with it, I mean we’re going to be facing it,” he said. “It’s beyond San Bernardino and it’s Orlando, New York, Minneapolis, wherever, wherever this problem exists, and it exists here at home.”
