From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is the Daily One.

Today, more than 99% of the territory one's controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been liberated.

And the few remaining villages under its control are soon expected to fall.

Rukh Mimi Kalamaki, on how the US government may be misunderstanding what that means.

It's Thursday, January 24.

We're destroying the bloodthirsty killers known as ISIS, almost gone.

As the reporter at the New York Times who covers ISIS day and day out, I've been struck by how the White House in recent weeks and months has been so black and white in a subscription of ISIS.

We reach Rukh Mimi at a hotel in Iraq.

They have disfigured the Islamic State as...

We wiped out ISIS in Iraq. We wiped out...

We've essentially...

...as absolutely obliterated ISIS.

We've also defeated the ISIS-Caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

As in its final thrones...

The Caliphate has crumbled and ISIS has been defeated.

And as defeated.

We've beaten them and we've beaten them badly. We've taken back the land and now it's time for our troops to come back home.

And all I can think when I hear those phrases is that I'm having an episode of Dashafou.

Good evening.

Tonight, I'd like to talk to you about the end of our combat mission in Iraq.

In 2010, the Obama administration effectively declared the group defeated.

The Americans who have served in Iraq completed every mission they were given.

...