anyone who has spent time with lt. gen. michael t. flynn, president-elect donald j. trump <u+2019>s choice for national security adviser, knows he is nothing if not blunt, especially when it comes to his near-obsessive focus on <u+201c>radical islamic terrorism.<u+201d> he has said on twitter that <u+201c>fear of muslims is rational,<u+201d> written that islamic law is spreading in the united states and said that islam itself is more like a political ideology than a religion. the united states, he wrote in <u+201c>field of fight,<u+201d> a book about radical islam published in august, is <u+201c>in a world war, but very few americans recognize it.<u+201d> general flynn, 57, a retired military intelligence officer and registered democrat, will be the person mr. trump turns to when confronted with a crisis abroad. whether it is a renewed bloodletting in ukraine, a russian cyberattack on the united states or a hurricane hitting haiti, the national security adviser is supposed to be a steady hand and honest broker who can provide measured and unbiased guidance to the president about how the united states should respond. <u+201c>these are not qualities readily apparent in observing general flynn over the last few years,<u+201d> said representative adam b. schiff of california, the top democrat on the house intelligence committee. general flynn was once counted among the most respected military officers of his generation. he spent 33 years in the army, becoming known as an outspoken and unconventional thinker as he climbed the ranks of military intelligence. he seemed to have cemented a stellar reputation during tours overseeing intelligence for special operations troops in iraq and running military intelligence in afghanistan. in both wars, he proved unusually good at unraveling terrorist networks. but general flynn<u+2019>s career unraveled after he was named by president obama to run the defense intelligence agency in 2012. james r. clapper jr., the director of national intelligence, fired him after his attempts to change the sprawling agency left subordinates squabbling and his superiors alarmed. general flynn, though, has said he was forced out for refusing to toe the administration<u+2019>s line that islamist militants were in retreat, a position that was in fact correct. in his speeches and writing since his retirement, general flynn has veered far from the mainstream in his views of islam, and has insisted that islamist militants pose a threat to the very existence of the united states. in mr. trump, general flynn found someone eager to hear his opinions. he backed mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign early and loudly, and the two appeared to reinforce each other<u+2019>s views. mr. flynn railed at a washington elite that he saw as too cowardly to call the enemy by the name <u+201c>radical islamic terrorism.<u+201d> he continued to make comments that crossed the line into outright islamophobia. and he led the raucous <u+201c>lock her up<u+201d> taunts of hillary clinton, drawing the ire of former colleagues in the military, most of whom see it as their duty to stay out of politics even in retirement. general flynn has made few public statements since the election. but in an interview in october, he bristled at the criticism, saying he got involved in the trump campaign out of the same patriotic duty that led him to join the military. the two men have much in common . there is a shared fondness for twitter, and they both see themselves as outsiders whose successes have never earned them the respect of the elite. for mr. trump, it is the kid from queens versus the swells from manhattan. for mr. flynn, it is the army<u+2019>s reserve officer training program at the university of rhode island, his alma mater, versus the overachievers from west point. he was one of nine children from an irish catholic family from rhode island <u+2014> <u+201c>definitely lower middle class,<u+201d> he said in the interview. his father was an enlisted soldier who, after retiring, worked his way up from bank teller to vice president of the bank. his mother earned a law degree at age 69. his brother charlie is currently a major general in the army. among the hard-line republicans who now dominate the party, mr. flynn has become something of a cult figure for what is seen as his brave stand against the obama administration<u+2019>s perfidy. the favorable view of mr. flynn is not shared by many in the republican national security establishment, most of whom opposed mr. trump, or many current and former military officers. they say he lacks the temperament and broader worldview needed at the white house, where he will have to contend with more than just islamist militants. they also fear general flynn<u+2019>s apparent willingness to work with president vladimir v. putin of russia, who he has said should be courted as an ally in the fight against islamist militants. last year, he even sat next to mr. putin at a lavish anniversary dinner hosted by russia today, a television network funded by the kremlin, which also paid general flynn to speak. then there is general flynn<u+2019>s habit of saying things that are simply not accurate with complete conviction (exhibit a: islamic law spreading in the united states). at the defense intelligence agency, his subordinates called them <u+201c>flynn facts.<u+201d> there are also concerns that the consulting firm he founded after leaving the military, the flynn intel group, poses potential conflicts of interest. the firm has business ties to middle eastern countries and has appeared to lobby for the turkish government. representative elijah e. cummings, democrat of maryland, released a letter on friday that he had sent to vice president-elect mike pence seeking more information about general flynn<u+2019>s apparent conflicts, and questioning why he has been allowed to sit in on intelligence briefings with mr. trump. a version of this article appears in print on november 19, 2016, on page a15 of the new york edition with the headline: anti-militant former general is pick for national security adviser. order reprints | today's paper | subscribe
ex-general and critic of islam to help guide trump in white house
matthew rosenberg