“You are seeing the beginning of a sustained campaign,” Lt. Gen. William Mayville, the Joint Staff’s director of operations, told Pentagon reporters Tuesday.

On Friday, Odierno also emphasized that destroying the Islamic State will be a long-term effort.

“We have to realize this is a long-term threat, this is a long-term commitment,” he said. “If you don’t believe they want to attack the West and America, you’re kidding yourself. That is their goal.”

So basically nothing has changed, leaving Iraq was a mistake, and we're stuck with this policy for the foreseeable future.