they have been chased out of that part of ukraine. i think the pentagon official is right, it is a victory for the ages. i know we have a lot of war still going on. i know there s suffering, but just in terms of this military campaign, absolutely nobody expected this. you know, the russian army showed up around kyiv early on and they had packed their dress uniforms for a scheduled victory parade once they took kyiv within three days. that was their expectation. now it gets even more dangerous i would think. they re reassembling in the east. odesa is a clear target. if they get odesa they can cut off the ukrainian economy, and the russian the russian philosophy, the russian playbook will not change and it will get worse i would bet given putin s behavior and his isolation from reality. the playbook has always been destroy and terrorize. we have seen the destruction. everyone has seen the films, and
we all remember their growth and rapid acceleration across iraq and syria. this is a isis is not the threat of the same significant nature that they were back then but they still remain a viable threat. we ve talked about that many times. this is a group that wants to reconstitute its strength. wants to continue to attack and kill and maim and terrorize. and hajji abdullah was very much involved in trying to resuscitate the group and grow their capabilities. they remain dangerous. they remain a threat to our national security, to the lives of other innocents. and we re going to, as the secretary said in his statement today, we re going to stay at it. travis? hey, john, thanks. a couple of quick questions. first on the efforts to get civilians out of the building, you said they had called out to
growth and rapid acceleration across iraq and syria. this is a isis is not the threat of the same significant nature they were back then. but they still remain a viable threat. we ve talked about that many times, that this is a group that wants to reconstitute its strength, wants to continue to attack and kill and maim and terrorize. and haji abdullah was very much involved in trying to resuscitate the group and to grow their capabilities. they remain a threat to us, our national security, and the lives of innocents. as the secretary said today, we re going to stay at it. hi, john. thanks. a couple quick questions. first, on the efforts to get civilians out of the building, you said that they had to call it out to them with a bull horn.
they have definitely lost a lot of their resourcing, a lot of their authorities and certainly a lot of their capabilities. that said shs and we have seen this over the last year or so, they have been trying to reconstitute, trying to grow, trying to get stronger, trying to metastasize outside the region, and certainly we have seen locations that they have designs attacking the west skand even our homeland. haji abdullah was a prominent leader. his father was more of a policy guy. he was very animated to reconstitute and lead a resurgence of isis. so this is a big blow for them. but you re right, we re not doing a victory dance here, no victory laps. we know that we have to stay focused on isis. we know they still have designs to maim and terrorize. there will likely be another
various parts of the syria and iraq. he was responsible for the recent brutal attack on a prison in northeast syria, holding isis fighters. he was the driving force behind the genocide of the people in northwestern iraq in 2014. reporter: according to officials, al qureshi never left his family on the third floor except to bathe on the roof. by december, u.s. officials were certain it was him in the residence. this operation is testament to america s reach and capability to take out terrorist threats no matter where they try to hide, anywhere in the world. reporter: while the death of a top isis leader remains a significant victory in the fight against the terrorist group. make no mistakes that isis is a much more degraded organization than they were in 2014. we know we have to stay focused on isis. we know they still have designs to kill and maim and terrorize,