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NBC: Obama's Claim America Is Winning the War Against ISIS Is an 'Overstatement'

Richard Engel, the chief foreign correspondent for NBC News, said on Tuesday that President Obama's claim that the United States is winning in the fight against the Islamic State is an "overstatement."

Host Thomas Roberts asked Engel for his thoughts on Obama's claims that the terrorist group is on the defensive.

"And Richard, is the president correct when he says that we are winning the fight against ISIS?" Roberts asked.

"Uh, winning? That's probably an overstatement," Engel said. "There are a lot of gains being made but the problem is they are being made incrementally and they are being made by, in an incoherent way."

"You have a U.S.-led faction, fighting with Kurds that are making their progress and then you have what is an enemy faction to that group also making gains," Engel said. "You have the Assad government, which is moving in on Aleppo, moving in on Raqqa, moving in on Idlib and there have been horrific incidents of violence over the last several days against the civilians in Syria."

"So, yes, ISIS is under pressure, but it's under pressure from two competing forces which aren't coordinating right now. There are also the immediate concerns. ISIS has put out a call, it has called on its members, on its supporters, on its fan base, to carry out attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. We are now in Ramadan."