Obama Will Lay Out Strategy to Defeat Islamic State

President Obama “will lay out plans this week for expanding the U.S. military campaign against the extremist group Islamic State, including the possibility of airstrikes on the militants in their Syrian strongholds,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“His appeal for support to a divided Congress and a doubtful American public comes as the U.S. military is broadening its month-old campaign of air attacks against the Sunni fighters in Iraq. An intense barrage of Americans airstrikes on Sunday hit militants trying to seize control of the strategic Haditha Dam in Iraq’s Sunni heartland northwest of Baghdad.”

New York Times: “The planned speech suggests that the president may be moving closer to a decision on whether to expand the month-old air campaign against ISIS in Iraq into Syria, and it is Mr. Obama’s latest attempt to answer critics who charge that he lacks a viable plan or the fortitude to go after the group.”