The Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria is on the defensive and "their cause is lost," US President Barack Obama said Wednesday after meeting with CIA chiefs and other security officials. "ISIL is on the defensive, and we are on the offensive," Obama said, using an IS acronym. "We have momentum, and we intend to keep that momentum." Obama stressed the importance of ending the five-year civil war in Syria as key to facilitating a lasting defeat of the IS group.
