DAIILY BEAST / REUTERS: The United States’ top military officer told American troops on a surprise visit to Baghdad on Saturday that the momentum in the battle with Islamic State was “starting to turn”, but predicted a drawn-out campaign lasting several years.
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was visiting Iraq for the first time since President Barack Obama responded to Islamic State advances this summer by ordering troops back into a country they left in 2011…
Obama last week authorized roughly doubling the number of American ground forces as the military expands the reach of its advisers after slowing the militants’ advances with U.S. airstrikes… (more)
