War on terror

Pentagon plan to defeat Islamic State to look beyond Iraq, Syria

A Pentagon-led plan to defeat Islamic State, due in draft form by Monday, will look beyond Iraq and Syria to include the threat from jihadists around the world fueling the conflict, America's top general said on Thursday.

The remarks by Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggest the preliminary plan will be far broader in scope than initially thought and might initially omit more tactical details, like specific troop requests.

"This is not about Syria and Iraq. It's about trans-regional threat," Dunford told a think-tank event in Washington, citing other jihadist groups like al Qaeda.

"So, when we go to the president with options, it will be in the context of the trans-regional threat."

Dunford noted U.S. military estimates that Islamic State had drawn 45,000 foreign fighters from more than 100 nations around the world.