“Equipment parks, training centers, encampments, the sorts of facilities and buildings where ISIS perhaps has its governing facilities” will be the target of the search, according to retired Col. Peter Mansoor. ISIS in Syria presents a direct threat to the U.S. homeland even if real actions were not yet initiated. However, on Sunday, the militants seized control of a key air base in the northern province of Raqqa. “While the President has not made a decision to take additional military actions at this time, we don’t restrict our options by geographic boundaries when it comes to the central mission of protecting our people,” said U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said “there’s no intention to coordinate with Syrian authorities.” The militants who call themselves the Islamic State are operating in both Iraq and Syria.
