After three years of avoiding it, President Barack Obama finds himself being pushed toward military action in Syria. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey both made clear that defeating Islamic State jihadists' rampage through northern Iraq would require going after them in neighboring Syria. "That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is essentially at this point a non-existent border," Dempsey told reporters Thursday. On Friday, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the administration was looking beyond the current airstrikes within Iraq's borders. "If we see plotting against Americans, see a threat to the United States emanating from anywhere, we stand ready to take action against that threat," Rhodes told reporters.
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The U.S. is gathering intel on the locations of ISIS leadership in Syria, officials say
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Ex-CIA official: ISIS is empowered when U.S. calls out, attacks them
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Administration officials leave open the possibility of airstrikes on ISIS in Syria
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Official: President Obama won't be "restricted by borders" in response to ISIS
Obama already escalated U.S. military involvement in @placeholder to combat ISIS less than three years after ending a lengthy war there.