President Barack Obama met with retired U.S. Marine Corps General John Allen at the White House Tuesday (September 16) after he selected the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan to coordinate international efforts to fight Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
Allen's new title is Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition against ISIL, the acronym the administration used for the Sunni Islamist movement.
The retired general has long experience working with leaders in the region, both as a commander in Iraq and as deputy head of U.S. Central Command, which controls U.S. forces in the region.
