ADVERTISEMENT

Defense Department Struggles to Explain Whether U.S. is Winning Against Islamic State

October 15, 2014

Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby struggled to respond to Sen. John McCain's claim that the Islamic State is "winning" against U.S. and coalition forces.

"Let me put it this way--it's going to be a long fight; it's going to be difficult; there's going to be setbacks; there's going to be wins and there's going to be losses," Kirby said.

"We're mindful of the complicated nature of this. And we're also very mindful of the fact that military power, military action is not going to be decisive in and of itself. It's just not going to work that way."

Kirby refused to "qualify" who was 'winning' and who was 'losing,' stressing that the success of a strategy cannot be judged in a matter of weeks.

"We all need to be in this for a matter of years," Kirby said. "We've only been doing airstrikes since August 8."

Kirby said the fact that IS militants were centering on the Syrian town of Kobani was evidence that their operations have been disrupted and that the Iraqi capital of Baghdad remained secure. However, he noted that there will be days where U.S. and coalition forces suffer setbacks.

"There are areas where we are having success, we have definitely made it harder for ISIL to sustain itself and to operate," Kirby said. "From a military perspective, it does no one any service to try to make a call on any given day."