The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a Senate panel he supports the president's plan to combat Islamic State militants but that if it proved necessary, he would recommend U.S. ground forces.
The disparities in naming are partly because of translation difficulties, and partly a sign of a propaganda war. The group calls itself the Islamic State; the Obama administration goes with ISIL.
On a weekend that saw extremist group the Islamic State release a video showing the murder of a Western hostage, support for a coalition to fight the group is building.
This weekend, David Haines' family publicly asked his captors to contact them. Instead, the group released its third video showing a Western hostage being killed.
The militant group calling itself the Islamic State claims to have killed British aid worker David Haines. The video has been condemned by British prime minister David Cameron and by President Obama.
President Obama says the strategy the U.S. would pursue against the Islamic State would be similar to how it targets al-Qaida affiliates in Yemen and Somalia. But both countries are deeply unstable.