Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter provided an upbeat assessment on Wednesday of the Obama administration’s efforts to defeat the Islamic State and said that missions now underway by a new deployment of Special Operations forces are “generating a virtuous cycle of action” against the extremist group.
Mr. Carter’s speech here to troops set to deploy to Iraq came as the Obama administration tried to convince an apprehensive public that it has an effective strategy to destroy the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
The defense secretary also said other measures cutting off the Islamic State’s supply routes, destroying its oil fields and disrupting its finances “are significantly constraining its ability either to defend or attack.”