We have a 'sometimes' NATO Ally but, "we don't have a willing, capable, effective partner on the ground inside Syria right now. It's just a fact."

We have a 'sometimes' NATO Ally but, "we don't have a willing, capable, effective partner on the ground inside Syria right now. It's just a fact." (MiddleEastOnline).

President Barack Obama conferred with commanders Wednesday on the "difficult" fight against Islamic State jihadists as the US military warned air power alone could not prevent the group from seizing a key Syrian border town.

After a meeting with top brass at the Pentagon, Obama said there would be no easy victory against the IS group but said a growing international coalition was resolved to confront the Sunni extremists rampaging in Iraq and Syria.

"Our strikes continue, alongside our partners. It remains a difficult mission," Obama, flanked by the country's most senior military officers, told reporters.

"As I've indicated from the start, this is not something that is going to be solved overnight."

Obama said there was "a broad-based consensus not just in the region but among nations of the world that ISIL (IS) is a threat to world peace, security and order, that their barbaric behavior has to be dealt with."

A Pentagon spokesman earlier offered a sober battlefield assessment, saying US air power on its own could not rescue the town of Kobane from an offensive by the IS jihadists in northern Syria.

US-led aircraft were hitting the IS group at every opportunity but without a competent force on the ground to work with, there were limits to what could be accomplished by bombing from the air, spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.

"Air strikes alone are not going to do this, not going to fix this, not going to save the town of Kobane," Kirby said.

"We know that. And we've been saying that over and over again."

Ultimately, "capable" ground forces -- rebel fighters in Syria and Iraqi government troops -- would have to defeat the IS group, but that would take time, he said.

Kirby said that "we don't have a willing, capable, effective partner on the ground inside Syria right now. It's just a fact."  Hmmmm.....Sorry Kurds.... We have a 'sometimes' NATO 'Ally' but we can't count on them not shooting you guys. :)