U.S. Frustrated By Turkey's Unwillingness To Confront The Islamic State

President Obama, at the Pentagon on Wednesday, discussed the drive against the Islamic State. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

As Islamic State Nears Conquest of Syrian Town, U.S. Presses Turks -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — As fighters from the Islamic State were on the brink of a highly visible conquest of a Syrian town near the Turkish border, Obama administration officials on Wednesday said there were limits to what the United States was able or willing to do to defend it.

Officials from the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon warned that airstrikes alone would not be sufficient to protect the town, Kobani, from the black-clad fighters. Their comments came a month after President Obama expanded the military campaign against the Sunni militant group into Syria. Although the Kurdish town — with television cameras trained on it from across the border in Turkey — has become a vivid symbol of the Islamic State’s lethal advance, and the Kurds’ fierce resistance, administration officials sought to play down its strategic importance.

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Update #1: U.S. frustration rises as Turkey withholds military help from besieged Kobane -- Washington Post
Update #2: US increasingly frustrated by Turkey’s inaction against Islamic State -- The Guardian

My Comment: Turkey's agenda has been very straight forward since the start of this conflict .... overthrow Assad and definitely do not help the Kurds. I do not expect this policy to change.

Update #3: The Turkish government has responded .... Turkish action against IS in Syria 'unrealistic' (BBC).