Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken claimed Thursday that "in large parts of Iraq" the Islamic State terrorist group is on the defensive.
Blinken was asked by MSNBC's Morning Joe co-host Willie Geist whether he believed the group was on the defensive, similar to assertions made by President Obama in recent months.
"In large parts of Iraq, it is," Blinken said. "But, clearly, Ramadi was a setback. Keep in mind, this was a place that was under siege for 18 months."
IS seized the key city of Ramadi in May, and it just shut down the dams in the city to cut water supplies to the government-held areas of Khaldiyah and Habbaniyah
Blinken also addressed his remarks to a French radio station about 10,000 Islamic State fighters being killed since the U.S.-led coalition began, which prompted criticism that promoting "body counts" is an inaccurate means of defining progress in the fight.
"I fully agree that in and of itself, that's not the metric," he said.