Is there enough force here right now to secure this area permanently? No. Are there opportunities for the enemy in other areas within our region? Yes.

I think what we saw today was the effect of our counterinsurgency and security operations in Tall Afar in the previous weeks. The enemy then decided to bail out. They knew they were being destroyed.

A couple of months ago, they might not have been able to pull it together after something like that. They showed a lot of resolve. Eventually, they will be able to control this city.

The enemy here did just the most horrible things you can imagine, in one case murdering a child, placing a booby trap within the child's body and waiting for the parent to come recover the body of their child and exploding it to kill the parents.

The enemy had sensed a reduction of U.S. forces.

They tried to take him right out of the ballgame. To his credit he didn't force it. (His teammates) can't rely on him to do everything. When people see what his teammates can do, they have to decide if you want to play Johnny that way.