It was just announced that Australian war planes carried out their first airstrikes inside Syria, ostensibly against ISIS, as part of the “US-led coalition.” Who else is in the coalition? How many are flying bombing sorties inside Syria? Is Israel part of the US-led coalition or part of the Russian-Syrian coalition? Or both?

At one point, the US State Department claimed there were 66 countries in the anti-ISIS US coalition, most of them without war planes involved. What are they doing & exactly why are they involved?

The cease fire reportedly does not cover territory controlled by ISIS. There it’s bombs away. But aren’t there still Syrian civilians living there? In the chaotic conditions of war, how exactly are those territories identified? How can they tell ISIS from the countless other paramilitary groups involved?