The hardened rhetoric — and, more important, the expanded commitment it promises — came after the Islamic State beheaded two American journalists in Syria and brazenly dared Obama to respond. But even before those grisly killings, administration officials were coming to the conclusion that the group posed a serious threat to U.S. allies in the Middle East and that it could become a source of terrorism against Europe and the United States.
Recognizing the threat is easier than addressing it, though. The strategy, which Obama aides admit they are still “building out,” has a daunting list of moving parts.
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