President Barack Obama is loading new missions on the U.S. military with fast-expanding mandates and no certain end dates as he grapples with the threats posed by ISIS and Ebola. Evolving operations in the Middle East and west Africa are causing some supporters to ask whether the president, a notoriously reluctant warrior dedicated to ending foreign entanglements and getting troops home, has changed his mind. By committing the U.S. military to two new crises, with no clear exit strategy, Obama risks the same perilous slide into "mission creep" that hounded some predecessors, who got sucked ever deeper into wars in Vietnam, Somalia and Iraq.
@highlight
President Obama risks getting sucked into deeper and deeper conflicts
@highlight
ISIS campaign has widened in recent months
@highlight
After initially being left out of Ebola response, the Pentagon is playing a bigger role
There are more than 1,400 troops in @placeholder and hundreds more aboard ships and in nearby countries carrying out airstrikes.
As for @placeholder, the Pentagon didn't have a role when the outbreak exploded in west Africa.