Iraq

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From Afghanistan and borderlands of Pakistan to Iraq and North Africa, radical Islamists eager to spread their strict interpretation of the Muslim faith and topple Western values have bombed, beheaded and slaughtered — undermining the White House narrative and raising questions about its strategy. (Associated Press)

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Iraqi Christians pray during New Year's mass at the Chaldean Mar Gorges Church in Baghdad, Iraq. In Iraq's war-scarred capital, authorities closed commercial streets to vehicles in the city's center as a precaution against possible suicide bombings by militants of the Islamic State terror. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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While more Iraq and Afghanistan vets are surviving their injuries, more are losing their limbs in attacks. (Associated Press)

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Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican and a former Marine combatant in Iraq, said more MQ-1 Predators and the newer, higher-flying MQ-9 Reaper make sense. He said commanders need constant air surveillance to find on-the-move Islamic State fighters. (Associated Press)

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This undated file image posted on a militant website on Jan. 4, 2014, which is consistent with other AP reporting, shows Shakir Waheib, a senior member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), now called the Islamic State group, left, next to a burning police vehicle in Iraq's Anbar Province. (AP Photo via militant website, File)

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This file image made from video posted on a militant website Saturday, July 5, 2014, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq. (AP Photo/Militant video, File)

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An Iraqi soldier secures an area from a helicopter near Baquba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

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An Iraqi Army helicopter flies over the city of Baquba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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The Islamic State group, which has employed a broad range of strategies to subdue Sunni Muslim tribes in Syria and Iraq, is pushing its war for a caliphate into North Africa. Younger jihadis in particular appear to be mimicking the militants' rhetoric and brutality. (Associated Press)

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Iraqi prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, speaks at a press conference with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. Iraq’s prime minister said on Thursday that his country and neighboring Turkey have agreed on closer security and intelligence cooperation in the face of the threat posed by the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, Pool)

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Gunman clash with Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, Iraq, Jan. 5, 2014. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

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In this file photo taken Thursday, June 19, 2014, al Qaeda-inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi army Humvee at a checkpoint outside an oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq. The government forces on Friday, Nov. 14, drove Islamic State militants out from their remaining strongholds inside the oil refinery town of Beiji, two security official said, in a key victory over the terror group that has captured much of northern and western Iraq in a stunning summer offensive. (AP Photo, File)

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FILE - In this file photo taken Thursday, June 19, 2014, a column of smoke rises from an oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq. The government forces on Friday, Nov. 14, drove Islamic State militants out from their remaining strongholds inside the oil refinery town of Beiji, two security official said, in a key victory over the terror group that has captured much of northern and western Iraq in a stunning summer offensive. (AP Photo, File)

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American military personnel have been in Iraq’s historically dangerous Anbar province, but only to help train the Iraqi military for its fight against the Islamic State group. Anbar resonates with many Americans because they recall how costly the fighting was there for U.S. troops. (AP Photo)

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Islamic State group members hold their weapons in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 12, 2014. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

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The leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivers a sermon at a mosque in Iraq on July 5, 2014. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

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The seal affixed to the front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington is seen here on June 21, 2013. The number of military suicides is nearly double that of a decade ago when the U.S. was just a year into the Afghan war and hadn't yet invaded Iraq. While the pace is down slightly this year, it remains worryingly high. The U.S. military and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) acknowledge the grave difficulties facing active-duty and former members of the armed services who have been caught up in the more-than decade-long American involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Associated Press)

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This undated file image posted on a militant website on Jan. 14, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching in Raqqa, Syria. (AP Photo/Militant Website, File)