The US State Department finds that the number of "terrorist attacks" around the world rose by a third in 2014, largely due to the expansion of ISIS and Boko Haram.
ISIS advanced on Aleppo and launched an offensive on the Syrian Kurdish city of Hassakeh as the US and coalition partners met in Paris. No Kurdish leaders were invited to the summit.
World War 4 Report offers its annual annotated assessment of Obama's moves in dismantling, continuing or escalating the apparatus of the Global War on Terrorism.
A study by UK-based Institute for Economics and Peace finds there were nearly 10,000 terrorist attacks in 2013, 44% more than the year before.
The Assad regime dubiously claims to be aiding the Kurdish defenders of ISIS-besieged Kobani—a transparent attempt at an Arab-versus-Kurdish divide-and-rule stratagem.
Warplanes flying from the USS George HW Bush carried out the first US air-strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, with planes from five Arab countries also participating in the raids.
The Obama administration is preparing to carry out a campaign against ISIS that may take three years to complete, involving a coalition of some 40 countries.
In a Pentagon press conference, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that ISIS cannot be defeated unless the US or its partners take them on in Syria.
The US and Iran alike are sending drones to Iraq to help the government beat back ISIS, while Russia has followed Washington in sending warplanes and military advisors.
The Pentagon deploys 80 Air Force troops to Chad to maintain a drone force to assist in efforts to find the abducted Nigerian schoolgirls—as Nigerians organize self-defense militias.
A Turkish military incursion against Qaedist rebels in Syria comes amid claims that al-Qaeda affiliates have seized the country's oilfields and are planning attacks on the West.
World War 4 Report offers its annual annotated assessment of Obama's moves in dismantling, continuing or escalating the apparatus of the Global War on Terrorism.
