Coalition of the Vaguely Supportive

The 26 countries in the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL — Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the U.S. — all signed a pledge to fight against the Islamic State in Iraq using “any means necessary”, including military action.

[...]

But there were no details announced. And even the U.S.’s most stalwart and imperial partner, the United Kingdom, wouldn’t actually commit to any specifics.

In Britain’s case, it’s not because of lack of enthusiasm in London — it’s because the government is afraid of losing Scotland.

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“Several Arab states have offered to conduct airstrikes against militants in Iraq,” Anne Gearan and Karla Adam write in the Washington Post.

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The “several” countries are evidently “two”; the considerably less coy British press determined they were the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

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[If] our officials won’t even acknowledge what countries are involved, it’s hard to pursue answers to the crucial follow-up question: What did we give up in return?

That may be particularly important when the next shoe drops: presumably an Egyptian one. As University of Michigan professor and Middle East blogger Juan Cole writes, getting the Egyptian government on board involves a whole host of potential contradictions and concessions.

  Dan Froomkin

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.