Jeff SeldinVerified account

"We're at a point in the campaign where we're really looking ahead to make sure we can endure, sustain all these gains" per @brett_mcgurk "The big focus of that is stabilization...this will really take a period of years" Notes 4 million #Iraq|is have returned to their homes

"We're down to the last 1% in the conventional military fight" @brett_mcgurk says of #ISIS in #Syria "We are preparing ourselves for the longer term and we feel pretty confident those pieces are getting into place"

"We got it to a point where almost every #ISIS fighter is wearing a suicide bomb, a suicide vest, the extent of IED emplacements, it's very very difficult fighting, so it's taking some time" per @brett_mcgurk Adds almost 1400 civilians have fled #Hajin in last week or so

"It's going to take time but it will get done. It's a very difficult campaign" @brett_mcgurk says of effort to oust #ISIS from its last #Syria stronghold

"The military objective is the enduring defeat of #ISIS" per @brett_mcgurk "And if we've learned one thing over the years, the enduring defeat of a group like ISIS means you can't just defeat their physical space & then leave"

"You have to make sure the internal security forces are in place to ensure that those gains, security gains are enduring" per @brett_mcgurk when asked how long coalition will stay in #Syria "So that will take some time"