The fact is that Iran doesn't want to see the Taliban come back any more than do most Afghan citizens.

Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters - all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing.

ISIS is on its way to defeat but terrorism threat persists.

Iraq has gone from being on the brink to being on the mend, and it clearly has some big advantages.

Al-Qaida in particular remains dangerous, and there [in Iraq] is some residual militia and special group presence. There are still between 20 and 30 attacks per day, still periodic car bombs and still loss of innocent civilians.

Progress in Iraq has always been about teams of people and teams of teams - and ultimately about young men and women, Iraqi as well as people from the coalition.

The Islamic State fighters in Mosul are dead men walking and I think they increasingly know it.