Anti-war activists protest as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel L) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey R) testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, Sept. 16, 2014. It is the first high-profile hearings examining President Barack Obama's strategy to combat Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria. [Xinhua/Yin Bogu]