Gen. Stanley McChrystal doesn't believe the U.S. created ISIS

"You've left the Army, and everything's gone to hell," Jon Stewart said to retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal on Monday night's Daily Show, just to get the conversation started. "Iraq, Afghanistan, the whole Middle East — you leave, poof." McChrystal politely said it wasn't that simple, then turned to Islamic State. "ISIS is a 21st century organization that uses some frightening tactics really quickly, and then they leverage digital communications to essentially tie their enemies in knots."

Stewart asked why ISIS is "always our problem — is it because we created it?" McChrystal wasn't buying the premise. "We created, essentially, much of the technology that is in the world now," he allowed, "but what we have done is, in many cases, harnessed it to 19th and 20th century organizations and processes." Stewart wasn't satisfied, noting that many politicians, pundits, and experts point to their own one thing the U.S. did or didn't do that could have prevented ISIS and fixed everything.

"I don't think we can give ourselves that much credit, actually," McChrystal said. "I don't think we have as much influence to cause all the problems that are there. I think we were part of it; we've also been part of the solution." The entire region is a mess, with factions and ideologies heading in different directions, and dealing with it "is going to take a long-term, focused, and really patient approach." Forget 5- or 10-year plans, he said. "You're going to come up with general directions and frameworks, and you'd better learn every day, because that's the war we're in right now." Throughout the entire interview, McChrystal was invariably diplomatic, even with Stewart's pet theories. You can watch below. Peter Weber

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