U.S. President Barack Obama will discuss ways of countering the Islamic State threat in Iraq and Syria in an address at the Pentagon December 14.
The White House said Obama will hold a meeting of his National Security Council before making remarks, just days after he gave an Oval Office address on the terror threat that received a mixed response from Americans.
No major policy changes are expected. But Obama will try again to convince Americans that his administration has adopted the right strategy for defeating IS.
Polls show that more than 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling IS, and the threat of terrorism has become a top issue for candidates seeking to replace Obama in the presidential election next year.
Obama continues to rule out sending U.S. ground troops to fight IS, as have most presidential candidates. He has advocated a strategy of combining air strikes with special forces raids, financial sanctions, and diplomacy to try to eat away at IS.