Deadly attacks in four countries linked to Islamic State show the limitations of U.S.-led efforts to loosen the group’s grip in Syria and Iraq, and the challenge of stopping attacks that are not only globally dispersed but very different in their choice of targets, current and former U.S. officials said. In recent months, Obama administration officials have frequently portrayed the group’s deadly strikes worldwide as a direct response to the U.S.-led military coalition’s success in ousting it from large tracts of Iraq and Syria. While that may be true in part, the current and former U.S. officials said, it is overly simplistic and understates how Islamic State’s influence has spread beyond the territory it controls.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-usa-islamic-state-idUSKCN0ZL2RU
