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Hagel Calls ISIS 'Imminent Threat' to U.S.

Source: NBC News

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Says Involvement in Iraq Not Over

U.S. military involvement in Iraq will continue because the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sharm "clearly poses a long-term threat," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday, saying its menace is "beyond anything we've seen" — even al-Qaeda.

In a briefing at the Pentagon a day after the U.S. revealed that it launched a failed mission in Syria this summer to rescue U.S. hostages being held by ISIS, Hagel said U.S. objectives in Iraq were "clear and limited: protecting American citizens and facilities, and support Iraqi forces as they confront" ISIS. But he said the U.S. "must be clear-eyed about the challenges ahead," and he stressed: "U.S. military involvement in Iraq is not over."

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/hagel-cautions-isis-beyond-anything-we-have-seen-n186226