Encomium
United States president, Barack Obama, has ordered airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State (IS) for the first time in a major escalation of the military campaign.
In a live televised address on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the president revealed that expanded strikes in Iraq as part of “a steady, relentless effort” to root out IS extremists and their spreading reign of terror. He announced that he was dispatching nearly 500 more U.S. troops to advise and assist Iraqi security forces, as well as conduct intelligence and reconnaissance flights.
The decision to authorize airstrikes in Syria marks a turnabout for the President, who had been wary of dragging the US military into a country embroiled in a three-year civil war.
