Though the US seems to be moving closer to expanding its new Iraqi air war into neighboring Syria, the question of how to do so without coordinating with the Assad government remains unclear.

The Syrian government has made it clear they welcome an intervention on their behalf against ISIS, but they want it to be a public coordination, and not just unilateral US strikes wherever they feel like.

That’s a problem for the US, which today ruled out any coordination with Syria under any circumstances. The US was prepared to attack Syria only a year ago, on behalf of the Syrian rebels, and doesn’t want to publicly admit to support for Syria against those selfsame rebels now.

Despite that, the US is providing aid to the Assad government in the form of targeting intelligence funneled through Germany. The pretense of not cooperating with Syria, then, appears to be the primary issue.

Exactly how the US will get around that is uncertain, but convincing Syria to allow the airstrikes without some sort of public rapprochement so soon after a threatened US invasion is no small task.