The Turkish 2-step

U.S. President Barack Obama this week revealed the difficulties facing the coalition he has built to fight the Islamic State group, or ISIS. Some 100 American airstrikes in Syria alone have failed to prevent ISIS combatants from infiltrating the Kurdish city of Kobani, near the Turkish border.

The American president now (perhaps) understands two important facts: First, airstrikes alone won't be enough to defeat ISIS; second, Turkey cannot be depended on in this campaign, despite Obama's infatuation with the idea of putting his faith in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Obama convened his generals and senior advisers to weigh the options. The results on the ground have been disappointing. The hundreds of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have not only failed to stop ISIS in its tracks, they have also failed to prevent additional achievements.

Kobani is on the brink of falling to ISIS. Go and try explaining to its justifiably petrified residents why a coalition of 50 countries is unable to impede a few thousand terrorists.

The city has suddenly become a symbol, a symbol of the Obama coalition's limitations. The American president is feeling the heat. The results of the fighting have not met expectations. Even the Pentagon admits that airstrikes on their own are insufficient to save the city. On November 4 the U.S. will hold mid-term congressional elections, yet another reason for concern for the Democratic candidates, who are worried about a defeat regardless.

Obama, as stated, is being punched around by the Turks. The president, who so pinned his hopes on Ankara, has still not understood that Turkey is not Washington's partner, rather its rival. The White House expected Turkey's help in the war against ISIS. Instead, Obama received a lot of talk and zero action.

The Turkish army has indeed sent reinforcements to the Syrian border, but only to watch the fighting from the side. The Americans expect their NATO partner, which has the second largest ground force in the alliance, to take action, especially when hell on Earth is only a "stone's throw away," as a senior American official described it to the New York Times. But the Turks have their own interests, and they don't even bother to hide it.

We can start with the fact that in the fight between ISIS and Kurdish underground forces in Syria, many of whom identify with the PKK (The Kurdistan Workers' Party), Ankara's enemy for decades, Ankara does not necessarily prefer the Kurds. Erdogan has already said he does not see the difference between the two organizations. Ankara is also worried about the Kurds in Syria, where they already have their own autonomous territory.

Turkey expects Washington to declare a "safe zone" inside Syria, which Turkey will control and against which the Syrian regime will promise not to use its air force and join the fray. This is too large a demand. Not only is Washington not yet prepared for this development, it would first need to go through the U.N. Security Council, where Russia and China will use their veto powers to defeat it. Turkey looked for an excuse and found one. The Turks also argue that the campaign against ISIS alone is unsatisfactory, and that Syrian President Bashar Assad must also be removed. Obama is not equipped to conduct both campaigns simultaneously.

In general though, Turkey, which allowed ISIS operatives to enter Syria from its territory, is not showing much if any signs of concern. The Islamic State's caliphate does not particularly trouble Erdogan's "caliphate." Recently 49 Turkish diplomats and their families, who in June were taken hostage by ISIS in Mosul, Iraq, were released. Apparently there is a fairly decent line of communication between ISIS and Ankara.

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