The United States has launched more than 100 airstrikes against the militants in Iraq, supporting local forces and protecting key installations. At the NATO summit last week, nearly a dozen countries agreed to work together on intelligence, logistics and other aspects of the fight. Now, President Obama is launching a broader strategy and inviting more countries to join, something he signaled at the end of the summit. I think it is absolutely critical that we have Arab states, and specifically Sunni majority states, that are rejecting the kind of extremist nihilism that we 're seeing out of ISIL that say that is not what Islam is about, and are prepared to join us actively in the fight, said the president. Experts say the participation of Middle Eastern countries is crucial to defeat the militant fighters, who are known as ISIL, ISIS and by their new name, the Islamic State. They have taken over wide areas of Iraq and Syria, and killed or terrorized thousands of local residents. Yet research consultant's Kathleen McInnis of London Chatham House cautions that coalitions are much more easily built than maintained. While everybody agrees ISIS is odious, they need to be defeated, the regional players Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar they all have very different interests and objectives for the region, said McInnis. And Obama will have to work hard even to convince U.S. allies to do more in the fight against Islamic State,
