Thread by @jseldin

NEW: No attribution yet for rockets attack Monday in #Baghdad or last week in #Irbil

"But clearly, look, these are dangerous attacks" per @PentagonPresSec

"We're there to counter #ISIS... our commanders have the right of self defense"

#Pentagon-domestic violent extremism

@SecDef Lloyd Austin "would like to know with ore granularity how big the problem is...a better sense of the numbers" per @PentagonPresSec

Some commands have already conducted the mandatory one-day stand down to examine domestic extremism, per @PentagonPresSec

Also, @SecDef has issued a video to the troops, he says:
defense.gov/Explore/News/A…

#Baghdad rocket attack, attack in #Irbil - "We're taking these attacks very seriously" per @PentagonPresSec "If it's appropriate to respond, we will do so..."

Expanded @NATO mission in #Iraq not likely to change # of US troops

"There are no plans to put additional forces in Iraq to contribute to that expanded mission" per @PentagonPresSec

NEW: 5,279 @USNationalGuard troops still helping provide security for #WashingtonDC / #US Capitol, per @PentagonPresSec

No requests at this point to extend presence past mid-March

#Afghanistan - "We're certainly mindful of the suffering" per @PentagonPresSec

Review of #Doha agreement w/#Taliban ongoing, he says, pointing to @SecDef comments that violence is "too high"

Extremism in the ranks is a problem for @DeptofDefense, per @PentagonPresSec

"I don't think it's debatable" per spox John Kirby "What we don't know is the extent of it"

"It's difficult to say w/certainty...whether there's a strategic calculation driving this recent uptick in attacks or whether this is just a continuation of the sorts of attacks we've seen in the past" per @PentagonPresSec

"We're there to counter #ISIS at the invitation of the #Iraq|i gvt & our commander, just like the Iraqi commanders have the right of self defense" per @PentagonPresSec

"We're taking the attacks very seriously" per @PentagonPresSec "The president himself has said, if & when it's appropriate to respond we'll do so at a time & a place & a manner of our choosing"

Per @DeptofDefense, the @USNationalGuard troops helping provide security for the #USCapitol come from 31 US states and the District of Columbia