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The U.S. and its coalition partners continue to attack ISIS militant targets but what has not been fully articulated is the broader strategy for Syria?

Close to 200 airstrikes have been launched against ISIS positions in Iraq, but few territorial gains have been made, and now the air campaign has been extended into Syria.

The LA Times reported the momentum of the Sunni Muslim militant group has been blunted in Iraq, but the extremists still hold sway in much of the country’s Sunni heartland. There is widespread agreement that some kind of ground offensive will be needed to oust them from their Iraqi strongholds, such as Mosul and Tikrit.

The Times continued to report in Iraq; Washington at least has the support of allies on the ground, including the army, affiliated Shiite Muslim militias and the spirited if ill-equipped Kurdish peshmerga force, not to mention a functional government to work with.

Now that the conflict with ISIS has spread to Syria, and President Obama has pledged to spend $500 million dollars to train and equip this new army in fighting ISIS, but the rebels forces are more concerned in fighting the government in Damascus.  The unanswered question is how this plays out with Syria’s main backers in Russia and Iran?

The president has also vehemently denied that U.S. ground forces will be used, but the same old question arises is how the U.S. will direct air strikes now that ISIS dispersed its forces and equipment?

The administrations national security team has given conflicting statements on what constitutes “boots on the ground.”

How will the president deal with Assad when he stated back in 2011 he must go?

“We cannot rely on an Assad regime that terrorizes its people, a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost.”

With the changing complexities of Middle Eastern politics how long and to what extent will members of the Arab coalition continue with attacks into Syria, and will they be part of any ground operation into Syria.

Various military and national security experts have stated at some point there has to be some ground force in Syria.  Right now the Iraqi army has not fully reconstituted itself, and many believe they are a long way off.

The president needs to fully articulate a comprehensive strategy for Syria, because air power alone will not do the job in degrading or destroying ISIS as the president has stated is his objective.