Gen. Joseph Dunford Testifies That ISIS Has Been “Tactically” Contained" In Areas"

Joint Chiefs Chairman: ISIS Has Been Contained “Tactically, In Areas,” But “Strategically, They Have Spread.” During December 1 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee concerning U.S. military strategy to confront ISIS, Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford was asked if ISIS has “been contained at any time since 2010.” Dunford explained, “Tactically, in areas, they have been contained. Strategically, they have spread since 2010”:

REP. RANDY FORBES (R-VA): So if we're effectively not at war, let me ask you this. Have we currently contained ISIL?

GEN. JOSEPH DUNFORD: We have not contained ISIL.

FORBES: Have they been contained at any time since 2010?

DUNFORD: Tactically, in areas, they have been. Strategically, they have spread since 2010. [C-SPAN, 12/1/15]

Obama Said ISIS Was Geographically Contained, Consistent With Dunford's Remarks

President Obama: “We Have Contained Them. They Have Not Gained Ground In Iraq And In Syria.” During a November interview with ABC News, President Obama said that ISIS had been “contained” and had “not gained ground in Iraq and in Syria ... you don't see this systematic march by ISIL across the terrain.” He clarified that “what we have not yet been able to do is to completely decapitate their command-and-control structures.” The Washington Post reported:

Just before the terrorist attacks in Paris, President Obama said the Islamic State is not gaining strength in Iraq. The White House now says the massacre will not alter its strategy to counter the radical group. 

“We've always understood that our goal has to be militarily constraining ISIL's capabilities, cutting off their supply lines, cutting off their financing,” Obama said in an interview with ABC that aired Sunday, using an alternative acronym for the militant group. 

“I don't think they're gaining strength,” he said. “What is true is that from the start our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them. They have not gained ground in Iraq and in Syria. They'll come in, they'll leave, but you don't see this systematic march by ISIL across the terrain.” 

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris, which killed 129 people on Friday night. Obama's comments on the status of the battle against the Islamic State were made Thursday. 

“What we have not yet been able to do is to completely decapitate their command-and-control structures,” Obama said. “We've made some progress in trying to reduce the flow of foreign fighters, and part of our goal has to be to recruit more effective Sunni partners in Iraq to really go on offense instead of simply to engage in defense.” [The Washington Post, 11/15/15]

White House Adviser Ben Rhodes: Obama “Was Responding Very Specifically To The Geographic Expansion Of ISIL In Iraq And Syria.” On the November 15 edition of ABC's This Week, White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes responded to criticism of Obama's comments, explaining that Obama “was responding very specifically to the geographic expansion of ISIL in Iraq and Syria”:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (HOST): You know, the president received some criticism for that interview we did on Thursday, and the words he used -- containment of ISIL. Carly Fiorina saying ISIL not contained, they are on the march. Chris Christie said the president is living in a fantasy; the president sees the world as he wants to see it. Your response?

BEN RHODES: Well, look, George, the president was responding very specifically to the geographic expansion of ISIL in Iraq and Syria. A year ago we saw them on the march in both Iraq and Syria, taking more and more population centers. The fact is we have been able to stop that geographic advance and take back significant amounts of territory in both northern Iraq and northern Syria. At the same time, that does not diminish the fact that there is a threat posed by ISIL, not just in those countries, but in their aspirations to project power overseas. That's why we've been very focused on this challenge of foreign fighters to come into and out of Syria. Many of those have returned to Europe in particular. That's why it's such a focus of these meetings here to talk about how we can seal that border with Turkey to prevent that flow of foreign fighters and share intelligence to disrupt and prevent attacks in our European allies' countries and, of course, in the United States. [ABC, This Week, 11/15/15]

PolitiFact: According To Experts “Obama Is Right That ISIS Hasn't Expanded In The Region In Recent Months.” In a November 15 fact check, PolitiFact confirmed that Ben Rhodes accurately noted Obama “was responding very specifically to the geographic expansion of ISIL in Iraq and Syria” when he said ISIS was contained. PolitiFact wrote that “experts told us that Obama is right that ISIS hasn't expanded in the region in recent months, though this doesn't give a full picture of ISIS's global reach”:

Rhodes said that when Obama said ISIS was contained, he “was responding very specifically to the geographic expansion of ISIL in Iraq and Syria.”

Looking back at Obama's interview where he made this comment, it is quite clear that it's within a narrowly defined scope: ISIS's territorial expansion in Iraq and Syria. He did not rule out the potential for a terrorist attack, and he also made it clear that the United States' anti-ISIS efforts are a work in progress.

References or suggestions that Obama claimed ISIS no longer presents an active threat are incorrect.

Further, experts told us that Obama is right that ISIS hasn't expanded in the region in recent months, though this doesn't give a full picture of ISIS's global reach.

Rhodes' statement rates True. [PolitiFact.com, 11/15/15] 

Conservative Media Misleadingly Hype Dunford's Comment To Claim He Contradicted Obama

Fox's Hannity: Dunford Said “Something Totally Different” From Obama. During an interview with Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on the December 1 edition of Fox News' Hannity, host Sean Hannity asked Cruz if he heard Dunford “saying we have not contained ISIS” and wondered “how could the president be so wrong” with Dunford “saying something totally different”:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Did you hear Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, saying we have not contained ISIS? By the way, even [Sen.] Dianne Feinstein [(D-CA)] said it. The president said they were contained the day before, hours before the Paris attacks. Not only did he say they're not contained, but they're growing. So how could the president be so wrong and Dianne Feinstein and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs saying something totally different?

TED CRUZ: Because it's out of control political correctness. They don't acknowledge that the problem even exists. [Fox News, Hannity, 12/1/15]

Fox's Hasselbeck: Dunford's “Contradicting” Statement Shows Obama Could Be In A “State Of Delusion” Or Engaging In “Deceit.” During the December 2 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck claimed Dunford was “contradicting” Obama and wondered if Obama is “just [in] a state of delusion or is this deceit on the part of the commander-in-chief.” The hosts of Fox & Friends used Dunford's testimony to criticize Obama, even as the show included the portion of Dunford's remark where said ISIS was “tactically” contained “in areas”:

STEVE DOOCY:  Remember the day before the Paris attacks. Our president said that ISIS -- he told this to ABC -- ISIS was contained. Well, yesterday in front of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Randy Forbes, congressman who is a Republican from Virginia, asked the guy who heads up the Joint Chiefs, Marine General Joe Dunford, specifically, is ISIS contained? Well, the president said it was. What did the general say? Not good. Listen to this.

[...]

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: This was that flashback that you were just alluding to when the president said - and this was what, a day before the Parisian attacks, that they have -- they are in fact contained. We see that not the case. When you hear [Secretary of Defense] Ash Carter, when you hear General Dunford, when you see them contradicting that statement, you think, wait a second, is this just a state of delusion or is this deceit on the part of the commander-in-chief? [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/2/15]

Fox's MacCallum: Dunford “Contradicts” Obama On ISIS. During the December 2 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, anchor Martha MacCallum claimed Dunford's testimony “contradicts” Obama and is “just the opposite” of what the president had said about ISIS. Fox News correspondent Kristin Fisher agreed, saying, "[Dunford] did" contradict Obama. America's Newsroom played Dunford's full answer, while still taking it out of context:

MARTHA MACCALLUM: Defense Secretary Ash Carter announcing a new special ops strike force to take on ISIS. Pentagon sources say that they will have a green light to conduct raids to take out ISIS leaders and to rescue hostages in Iraq and Syria.

[...]

This announcement comes as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff contradicts the president over whether the spread of ISIS is under control. Watch this.

[...] 

Kristin, the president said just the opposite from his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff right before the Paris terror attack. 

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: He did. So you just heard the nation's top-ranking military officer say ISIS is not contained. But as you said, one day before the terror attack in Paris, the president said ISIS is contained. [Fox News, America's Newsroom, 12/2/15]

Breitbart News: Dunford “Contradicts” Obama Over ISIS. In an article with the headline “Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Dunford Contradicts Obama: We Have Not Contained The Islamic State,” Breitbart News' Pam Key wrote that Dunford “testified that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has not been contained at anytime since 2010, which is a contradiction to President Obama's claim from mid November that ISIS has been contained”:

Tuesday before the House Armed Services Committee, Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford testified that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has not been contained at anytime since 2010, which is a contradiction to President Obama's claim from mid November that ISIS has been contained.

Rep. Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) asked Dunford if ISIL has been contained and Dunford answered, “We have not contained ISIL.” 

When asked by Forbes if ISIL had been contained at any time since 2010, Dunford said, “Strategically they have spread since 2010.” [Breitbart News, 12/1/15]

Washington Free Beacon: Dunford “Appears To Contradict” Obama Over ISIS. Washington Free Beacon's Aaron Kliegman wrote that Dunford's remark “appears to contradict President Obama's statement” that the “Islamic State had been 'contained'”:

Gen. Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified to the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the United States and its coalition partners have not contained the Islamic State.

[...]

Forbes pressed further, asking whether the Islamic State has been contained at any point since 2010. Dunford answered, “Tactically, in areas they have been. Strategically, they have spread since 2010.”

[...]

Dunford's assessment at the congressional hearing Tuesday appears to contradict President Obama's statement in an interview from November 12 that Islamic State had been “contained,” which came one day before the jihadist group carried out coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris, killing 130 people and wounding hundreds more. [Washington Free Beacon, 12/1/15]