Asked for Update on Fight Against ISIS, SecDef Mattis Responds With 4 Words — Another Classic Quote

Independent Journal Review ^ | 07/21/2017 | Jason Howerton

[ForYourChildren]

Secretary of Defense James Mattis was asked on Thursday to provide an update on the U.S. military’s fight against the Islamic State — and he responded with a quote that will surely be added to his list of classics:

“We’re winning. They’re losing,” Mattis told a reporter.

{..snip..}

[ForYourChildren]

“We’re winning. They’re losing,”

[ForYourChildren]

IHS Markit estimates that ISIS territory is down 60 percent, and the group’s cash flow is down 80 percent.

[sourcery]

It’s six words.

Yes, I’m a pedant. So sue me.

[ForYourChildren]

[ForYourChildren]

Recall that Obama called ISIS a JV team.

Then started to supply and support ISIS to take over the whole region.

ISIS is finally starting to rolled back.

THANKS TO TRUMP!!

GO TRUMP GO!

[Albion Wilde]

A restatement of Reagan’s foreign policy: “We win. They lose.”

[Enchante]

Nice. When I saw the "4 words headline I guessed it might be....

"WE ARE KILLING THEM!"

[Cheerio]

Right up there with one of my all time favorites........

LTG Russel Honore: "You're Stuck on STUPID!"

[Celtic Conservative]

No, it’s 4. They’re contractions.

CC

[deks]

I’d’ve thought that contractions count as one word.

[bgill]

When none are allowed onto US, that’s when we’re winning.

[Seruzawa]

Fodder for jingoists.

When they get smaller they will melt back into the general population and emigrate to Europe. When ISIS collapses within a few weeks or months a new “crisis” will “mysteriously” arise which will “require” that our troops stay there..... forever.

Force of arms will never bring peace to this part of the world. Suppress one group of murderous fanatics and three more pop up. Usually our erstwhile “allies”.

Nothing ever really changes. Rockefeller and Soros smile. They couldn’t be happier.

[njslim]

Reminds me of Admiral Ernest King, chief of Naval Operations
during WW II on how to handle the media.

Don’t tell ‘em anything, when its over tell ‘em who won.....

[sourcery]

Contractions don't change the number of semantic words. According to Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

Do contractions count as one word or two?

Contracted words count as the number of words they would be if they were not contracted. For example, isn’t, didn’t, I’m, I’ll are counted as two words (replacing is not, did not, I am, I will). Where the contraction replaces one word (e.g. can’t for cannot), it is counted as one word.

Told you I was pedant.

[Celtic Conservative]

Indeed. Comment retracted.

CC

[William Tell]

sourcery said: "Told you I was pedant. "

How can one justify counting a contraction of two words as being still two words and yet count compounding of two words as just one word; i.e. "cannot"? A count of letters would seem to justify just the reverse.

[Uncle Sam 911]

Ask him for an update on getting rid of the destructive social experiments in the military implemented by Ash and Obama. He would have these words to say:

[sourcery]

That’s why Cambridge counts “can’t” as one word. In general, if the contraction can be expanded to a single word, then it’s a single word.

[libertylover]

Pretty much the same answer Ronald Reagan gave the press when they asked him what outcome he would like in the cold war- “We win. They Lose”.