CENTCOM Commander General Joseph Votel spoke at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. (Photo: Screen grab/USIP)

(CNSNews.com) - Border protection is a key element in stabilizing Iraq, now that ISIS has been mostly expelled from the country, CENTCOM Commander General Joseph Votel told a gathering at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington on Tuesday.

With major combat operations ended, the Iraqi Security Forces are transitioning from "large scale operations" to security operations to protect against "guerilla-type tactics" from ISIS remnants.

Votel said the U.S.-led coalition is "working very closely" with the Iraqis:

We'll see a heavy focus on the development of Iraqi border forces. This will be very, very important. They do not want to have a repeat of what happened before. Obviously, ISIS is an organization that operates without regard to borders or boundaries or any recognized norm of that sort. And so being able to protect their own borders, I think is a -- is a key aspect of this. And along the way, we'll see the coalition forces with the United States continue to provide the support that the government of Iraq has asked of them. And this has been something we've been talking about with them for some time here, so that we do remain in a position where we can continue to help them professionalize, continue to help them develop into the -- into the security force that the Iraqi people need and want to protect them in the future. So in Iraq, I think we're in a pretty good place right now security-wise. It is -- there still is the presence of ISIS, there's no doubt about that, but I think with the coalition's support, I think the Iraqi security forces are in a pretty good position to begin to address that.

USAID Administrator Mark Green told the gathering that his agency is working to reconcile the different groups and factions in Iraq:



"In Iraq, one thing we're doing is working to help restore some of the cultural diversity that has been a hallmark of Iraq. So, in northern Iraq, again, we're working to help Yazidis and Christian minorities to be able to return home, to feel secure enough to be able to return home and sort of re-establish their communities. So that's one thing that we're doing in particular."