Kerry: When Obama Says ISIS Is Contained, ‘He’s Talking About Iraq and Syria’

PELLEY: “Is it worth it to put troops on the ground now to prevent an attack on the United States?”

KERRY: “Well, as you know, President Obama made the decision some time ago to put American Special Forces on the ground in order to augment the ability of Syrian Arabs and Kurds and others to do the job. And it’s getting the job done. It is working. Unfortunately, as we know, there are fighters that have come from many countries in the world – ours included – who have gone to Syria. And so the challenge of foreign fighters returning to their homes is one we have been focused on for a year or so. It’s a big challenge, and we’ve seen the consequences in the last days.”

PELLEY: “Mr. Secretary, you say it’s working. But in two weeks’ time, ISIS brought down the Russian jetliner, attacked their enemies in Lebanon, and now attacked Paris. It doesn’t feel like it’s working.”

KERRY: “Well, the strategy is to contain ISIS within Iraq and Syria and diminish their hold and destroy their headquarters and them, fundamentally. Because that’s where all of this has emanated from. So when the President says they’re contained, he’s talking about Iraq and Syria, where we have diminished their ability to move. They are now governing, so to speak, 25 percent less territory. Major communities have been liberated from their clutches. Major leaders have been taken out and eliminated from the battlefield. And slowly but surely, that pincer is working. But yes, they have foreign fighters who have left there and gone to other places. That remains a challenge. And we’ve known all along that challenge is there. I think it’s – we – the basic strategy of destroying Daesh’s center, its core, which is what we did with al-Qaida, is working.”