Thread by @jseldin

Happening now: @CENTCOM Commander Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie briefs Pentagon reports on #Afghanistan withdrawal

"I would advise the #Taliban we will be prepared to defend ourselves" he says

"We do plan to continue support to the Afghan military...it will just be more difficult" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie

"We intend to continue to support them" he adds "It will be a tough fight for the Afghans"

"It is our intention to bring the contractors out, the US contractors will come out" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie, saying planner looking at other options to support Afghan air force

"We may be able to work some remote, televised way to do that"

"The #Taliban have never stopped fighting" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie, saying pace of attacks as high as ever

"It is probably the Taliban's intent" to continue attack Afghan forces

"Very thoughtful, very in-depth process" that led to decision to withdraw US troops fro Afghanistan, per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie

"The president went out of his way" he adds

"We have no significant basing agreements" with any of the 'stans right now, per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie

"We have very good access basing...w/our partners in the Gulf" he says "We have other options on the table"

#Iran threat - "remarkable, quantitive improvements" in ballistic missiles, per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie

Also considerable improvement in cruise missile & drone tech

As for nukes, "they've done nothing that is irreversible at this point"

"#alQaida & #ISIS will regenerate is pressure is not kept on them" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie, noting #Taliban have committed to maintain pressure

Correction-typo: "#alQaida & #ISIS will regenerate IF pressure is not kept on them" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie, noting #Taliban have committed to maintain pressure

Drone attack in #Erbil - "We are still trying to determine the attribution" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie

Says the drone in question was a small - "The smaller drone is the future of warfare and we need to get ahead of it right now" he adds

"We will be vigilant and we will be able to respond" to any new threats emanating from #Afghanistan, per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie

"We will not allow attacks against the United States to occur" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie, saying the best hope is for a future Afghan gvt to fulfill its responsibilities to crack down on terrorist groups

"The gvt of Iraq wants us to stay....they need us to continue the fight against #ISIS," per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie

Says he's been given no direction to stand down in #Iraq

"We actually maintain significant coverage over #Afghanistan now" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie on drones/air cover over the country for the troop withdrawal

Says that will continue...

"We'll do anything we can to help in deescalating these clashes" in NE #Syria to help #SDF allies, per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie

"We would prefer to deal with it at the diplomatic level if we can"

"We will attempt to keep collective security with our #Afghan partners for as long as we can" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie, calling them the 1st line of defense

"We do do everything in our power to keep that capability alive..."

"It's something you think about" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie, asked about concerns that US will leave #Afghanistan and have to go back in, like with #Iraq

"We don't plan to go back in..." he adds, holding open option of future CT strikes

"It does not necessarily involve us doing that pressure although we might act in concert w/some future government of #Afghanistan to do that" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie on CT pressure vs #alQaida, #ISIS

"That pressure could be kept on them by the gvt of #Afghanistan. We just don't know the exact composition of what the future gvt of Afghanistan is going to look like" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie

re CT pressure vs #alQaida, #ISIS

"It may be that the #Taliban have actually undertaken to to do this" per @CENTCOM's Gen. McKenzie on CT pressure vs #alQaida #ISIS "They've said that they will not allow alQaida or ISIS to base out of out of Afghanistan. So it may yet be that they will keep their word ..."