New Pentagon chief convenes unusual counter-IS meeting

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter convened an extraordinary war council Monday on Iraq's doorstep, six days after taking office, to discuss the nitty-gritty of the administration's oft-criticized strategy for countering the Islamic State militant group and probe for gaps and weaknesses. The Army general commanding the war effort in Iraq and Syria, meanwhile, told reporters that the Islamic State's fighters are "halted, on the defensive" in Iraq and facing a new counterattack by Iraqi forces in Anbar province to retake a town the militants seized earlier this month.

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