The seizure of a key militant-held air base near the Iraqi city of Mosul moves Iraqi security forces closer to attempting to take it back from the Islamic State, and raises the prospect of the Pentagon escalating its military presence in northern Iraq in coming days. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter arrived Monday in Iraq to meet with senior U.S. military commanders and Iraqi officials, and said that Qayyarah Air Base will serve as a logistics and air hub on which both Iraqi and U.S. troops will operate. On Sunday, a “small number” of troops from the U.S.-led cooperate arrived and carried out a “brief site survey,” a senior U.S. military official said, speaking on the condition of […]