After Obama's Islamic State Speech, the Real Work Begins

President Barack Obama unveiled a new plan for fighting and defeating the Islamic State group in a prime-time address Wednesday, announcing previously off-limits airstrikes in Syria, training for the opposition there and the deployment of almost 500 new U.S. troops to Iraq, all while calling for international help to beat back the extremist threat.

[READ: Obama Unveils New Islamic State Strategy]

Now comes the hard part.

There are many details left to be ironed out, specifically which international partners will provide support, the limits of even more U.S. forces returning to Iraq and how the U.S. will involve itself in Syria without making the deadly situation there even worse.

In Syria, the president has ruled out putting any American forces on the ground, meaning any support to find targets, call in airstrikes and determine their effectiveness will rely squarely on the beleaguered rebel factions still waging war against President Bashar Assad’s conventional army and air force.

“The reliance on air power has all of the attraction of casual sex: It seems to offer gratification but with very little commitment,” said retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of both the CIA and the National Security Agency. “We need to be wary of a strategy that puts emphasis on air power and air power alone.”

The U.S. has few good and competent friends in that Middle Eastern neighborhood, he added while on a conference call with reporters organized by the Atlantic Council.

But airstrikes are better than nothing, said Hayden, who has been critical of the administration’s slow pace in fighting the growing extremist threat in the region. As Obama pointed out in his Wednesday address, the U.S. must adapt to extremist fighters’ tactics of ignoring borders and establishing safe havens in Syria.

“The sooner we take the fight into Syria against [the Islamic State], the better off we’ll be,” he said.

The Syrian opposition on which the U.S. now relies suffered a severe blow this week with the apparent death of Hassan Abboud, an Ahrar al-Sham rebel leader reportedly killed in an explosion in northwest Syria, according to the BBC. The source of the attack – which killed at least 28 – was not immediately clear, with some pointing to a suicide bomber and others saying it was a gas attack.

The White House also has previously expressed concern that any direct support to the Syrian opposition – now well into its fourth year of war against the Assad regime – could end up indirectly helping the enemy.

[ALSO: The Dangers of Striking the Islamic State ]

“There is a concern about that kind of weaponry falling into the wrong hands in a way that could pose a challenge or a threat to our national security interests or the national security interests of our allies in the region,” then-White House press secretary Jay Carney said in February. “That remains the case.”

A senior administration official told reporters shortly before Obama’s speech that Saudi Arabia would provide grounds on its soil where the moderate factions of the Syrian opposition can train, regroup and then re-enter the fight. The Islamic nation – an established recipient of U.S. military aid – was the only specific country the White House has put forth as part of the international coalition it boasts will help take on the Islamic State. The official said other allies considering support include NATO partners, and France announced Wednesday it would help contribute to airstrikes in Iraq if needed.

Among others likely to pitch in is Turkey, a neighbor of Syria and a key player in the ongoing crisis there. Reports indicate the country has, at the least, turned a knowing blind eye to some insurgents crossing its border into Syria in the hopes they would help fight and defeat Assad. But the Turkey-Syria border also served as a revolving door for hostile extremists who have fought with the Islamic State.

Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Turkey on Friday and Saturday as part of his whirlwind regional tour to drum up support among allies. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met with Turkish leaders earlier this week, but emerged with no specific plans or assurances of Ankara’s support. Turkish officials also have expressed skepticism about aggressively fighting the Islamic State, The New York Times reports, fearful of the group’s retaliation against the nearly 50 Turkish citizens it has captured.

And then there's Iraq. Despite the White House rhetoric of “no boots on the ground” in the former war zone, Obama announced Wednesday he would send 475 more troops to support the ongoing U.S. effort there. As of Wednesday, there were 1,043 U.S. troops in Iraq, including 754 providing support to diplomatic centers in Baghdad and Irbil, as well as staff manning joint operations centers in both of those cities, assessment teams and those directly supporting the Iraqi security forces.

The 475 number stems from a Pentagon request for further troops. Of those, 150 will move into an “advise and assist” role, expanding beyond the original restrictions of operating only as assessors of the regional threat.

[ALSO: U.S. Requests Help From Arab States in Fighting Islamic State]

In addition, 125 will help run intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights, which will include deploying drones and planes.

“Sending aircraft to Iraq will free up some of the unmanned assets we have been using to conduct additional operations in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement.

Finally, 200 troops will deploy to headquarters in Baghdad and Irbil.

The president emphasized again Wednesday that these troops are not ground combat forces, which he says aligns with his policy of withdrawing America from lengthy ground wars in the Middle East.

His critics, however, point to the potential for mission creep. Rep. Buck McKeon, the outgoing chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an address Thursday at the American Enterprise Institute that he believes the number of U.S. forces in Iraq could reach as many as 5,000 by the end of the year.

The California Republican seemed to offer support, however, to the president’s plan to train rebel forces, which would require congressional approval.

“Defeating [the Islamic State] is the only option on the table,” he said.