CENTCOM Commander Kenneth McKenzie stated that “I am actually optimistic about where we are in Iraq right now… Prime Minister al-Kadhimi is attempting to do all the right things, and it’s going to be a long slog for him because I think, at heart, he wants to assert the sovereignty of Iraq”. “I think he seeks to bring the various militias under state control where that’s feasible”, McKenzie indicated, and “takes very seriously the obligations of the Government of Iraq to provide protection for U.S., coalition and partner forces that are in Iraq on a counterterrorism mission against Daesh [ie, ISIS], and he has been very aggressive moving out on that. He also has practical political realities that he has to deal with, and we recognise those realities and… we’re going to have to have patience as he moves forward”.