Defense Secretary Ash Carter, during a visit to Iraq on July 11, promised new support to the Iraqi government to help counter ISIS attacks on civilians. Carter directed the Defense Department’s Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency, which was formed in 2006 to help defeat the scourge of improvised explosive devices hitting US troops in Iraq, to “provide additional assistance that could enhance security in Baghdad,” according to a Defense Department statement. Multiple large-scale bombings have rocked Baghdad recently, including a massive July 3 truck bombing that killed 292, according to CNN.
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
