In between, the death cult displayed a medieval thirst for barbarity – beheadings, burnings alive, torture, defenestration – as their ragged but well-financed army secured territory in Syria, Libya and Iraq, while their deranged adherents brought mayhem to a tourist beach resort in Tunisia and a mosque in Kuwait, among other places.
His reinforced battalion, about 1,000 soldiers, is assigned to secure territory with an estimated 150,000 people.
He questioned Cameron's claim that there are 70,000 moderate Syrian troops to secure territory vacated by Isis and voiced doubts about their loyalties.
Looked at from a height, Southeast Asia is increasingly resembling a multiplayer chessboard, where different players ally with each other at the same time, moving pieces around to try to secure territory.
Their departure, which concluded last week, apparently helped embolden Mr. Sankoh's fighters to turn on the peacekeepers, who were trying to secure territory in rebel-held parts of Sierra Leone where diamonds are mined.
George Beckwith, London's spymaster in the colonies, remarked bitterly that "Washington did not really outfight the British; he simply outspied us!" Washington later established a secret service fund, which he and his successors as president tapped for clandestine overseas operations -- against the Barbary pirates, among other adversaries -- and to secure territory as the young nation expanded.
As such, it fits in a context of other behaviors: foraging, mating and nesting, securing territory, play, grooming, and other social interactions.
Rather than thinking of China's strategy as a blueprint for using military power to secure territory or vital resources, such as oil, it may be more appropriate to consider the possibility that Beijing's actions are directed at obviating the need to fight.
After securing territory in the Cotentin Peninsula as far south as Saint-Lô, the Allies launched Operation Cobra on 25 July, and advanced further south to Avranches.
Backed by warplanes from the US-led coalition, Baghdad's troops have been fighting to secure territory around Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's vast western province of Anbar, since it fell to IS in May.
He said previous research had pointed to a link between persecution and younger golden eagles managing to secure territories and attempting to breed.
