Back from his vacation, President Obama is scheduled to meet with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Monday for an update on the series of air strikes launched against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq.
Obama may increase military action against the terrorist group after the beheading of American journalist James Foley, as members of his administration continue to escalate warlike rhetoric.
Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes signaled Friday that the United States viewed Foley’s death as an attack on America.
Last week, Hagel explained that IS had grown “beyond anything that we’ve seen,” posing “a new paradigm of threats to this country.”
It is unclear, however, whether Obama will launch air strikes against IS in Syria.
After suffering military setbacks last week in Iraq, the group seized a military base in northern Syria, publicly displaying the severed heads of its vanquished enemies.
On Fox News Sunday, Sen. John McCain signaled that air strikes in Syria were necessary.
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