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On Wednesday night, President Obama addressed the American people regarding the threat posed by ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

The president stated, “ISIL poses a threat to the people of Iraq and Syria, and the broader Middle East — including American citizens, personnel and facilities.  If left unchecked, these terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region, including to the United States.”

The president made it clear, “Our objective is clear:  We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy.”

President Obama laid out a four part strategy in confronting ISIL, by first conducting a systematic air campaign in Iraq which includes Syria.  Secondly the U.S. would increase support to forces already on the ground. The third aspect would expand counterterrorism capabilities to prevent future ISIL attacks and to work with our partners in the region and in the international community.  The final aspect of the president’s strategy is to continue providing humanitarian assistance to innocent groups facing the wrath of ISIL.

There are numerous challenges in each aspect of the president’s strategy. The first one being is to have an inclusive government in Baghdad, as the president mentioned in his address, “with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat.

It is still too early see how the new Iraqi government will perform to bring in Sunni’s and other into the government.  MSNBC News commented, Iraq observers caution that it’s still too early to slap labels on the government; so far there are fewer Sunnis in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s Cabinet than in the previous administration. Neither the defense minister nor the interior ministers have been appointed.

Who is the point person on this, is it Stuart Jones the current Iraqi Ambassador to Iraq? What role will the Vice President play since he was originally appointed by the president to lead the transition of U.S. forces out of Iraq in 2010-2011.

How will the president train local fighters and what type of weapons will they receive? Who is going to train these fighters?  The president is sending more troops to the region, but what roll will these additional forces play, since they are currently barred from leaving their bases.

The president stated he wants a broad coalition and to have our Arab partners involved in his new strategy.  The question, which nations will be part of this coalition?  Right now he has nine nations as part of his coalition, but what will their roll be, what military capabilities will they bring?

In his address the president wants Arab nations to be actively involved, but how will he involve them, what Arab nation will join, and finally what will they contribute?  The problem is that these countries don’t trust the president.

The Washington Post reported that in common with their fear of the Islamic State, however, the region’s leaders also share a deep mistrust of the Obama administration, rooted in the past three years of increasing disengagement from the Middle East as the United States has sought to distance itself from the turmoil engendered by the Arab Spring revolts.

The biggest obstacle is how will the president take the fight to ISIL in Syria? The president mentioned arming Syrian opposition groups, but failed to name which ones, plus only a month ago dismissed this idea outright as unworkable.  How will he do this now?

What is the president’s strategy in Syria with all the conflicting actors to include Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad?

The real unanswered question, how committed will the president be to this strategy? In the past the president’s commitment wanes after his announcement, one only has to remember his surge strategy in Afghanistan.  After he committed surge forces to Afghanistan, he barely mentioned it again, only when he had to.

The real unanswered question is how committed will the president be?