The goal sounds reasonable and responsible for a coalition of nine governments — Britain, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland and the US.

… Mr. Obama said the effort would rely on American airstrikes against its leaders and positions, strengthen the moderate Syrian rebel groups to reclaim ground lost to ISIS, and enlist friendly governments in the region to join the fight.

While the president’s aides maintained that he has not yet decided to authorize airstrikes in Syria — which he has already done on a limited basis in Iraq — Mr. Obama likened his developing strategy on ISIS to the American effort against Al Qaeda in Pakistan’s tribal regions, which has relied heavily on airstrikes. …

… “You initially push them back, you systematically degrade their capabilities, you narrow their scope of action, you slowly shrink the space, the territory that they may control, you take out their leadership,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference here. “And over time, they are not able to conduct the same kinds of terrorist attacks as they once could.”

He said that “we are going to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL, the same way that we have gone after Al Qaeda,” using an alternate acronym for ISIS. …NYT

This is not about an American war and eight unengaged followers: “Certain countries bring expertise, like Britain and Australia in special operations, Jordan in intelligence and Saudi Arabia in financing,” and access to all-important “Sunni populations.” The allies are out to separate ISIS from its support and strengthen opposition to the extremists, not obliterate them.

The new Iraqi leadership will be included in the coalition if and when it is formed.

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As Karen De Young points out in the Washington Post, the “allies” working with the US include enemies …and ironies.

Asked whether there was a role for Iran in the international coalition the administration is forming to fight the militants in Iraq and ultimately in Syria, a senior administration official this week said, “I don’t know.” But, the official acknowledged, “they already .?.?. have a role on the ground.”

Iranian contributions have extended beyond weapons and advisers to the Shiite militias. Despite Tehran’s concerns about separatism within its own Kurdish community, it “was the first country to provide us with weapons and ammunition” to fight the militants, Kurdish President Massoud Barzani said late last month during a visit of Iran’s foreign minister.

Iran is also believed to have conducted airstrikes against the Islamic State, U.S. officials said.

The United States has vied with Iran for influence in Iraq ever since the majority Shiite government was installed after the 2003 U.S. invasion that overthrew Sunni leader Saddam Hussein. …WaPo

And, indeed, the Shiites are also in the mix.

The strong administration preference is for Shiite militia members — as well as Sunni tribesmen in western Iraq — to join the Iraqi security forces­ and fight the militants under the government’s banner. But U.S. officials, who were not authorized to discuss the administration’s strategy on the record, said they would take what they could get until the militants are driven back. …WaPo

Cross-posted from Prairie Weather

graphic via shutterstock.com