In recent meetings with top advisors, President Obama has been urged to escalate American efforts in Syria and Iraq as well as in other places in the volatile Middle East. He is being advised that more American ground troops will be needed in Syria if their fragile coalition is to continue to be effective in ousting Syrian president Assad from power.

The Americans, and their coalition, currently back the Free Syrian Army and its allies while Assad is propped up and supported by the Russians, the Iranians and even Hezbollah soldiers, reports The Washington Post. The Pentagon has been the chief agitator for escalation of American involvement. The advice has been far reaching to include not only the Syrian civil war, but potential escalated operations both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The final decision with regard to the additional American presence in the Middle East will ultimately rest with President Obama. No one has yet to place a figure on the number of additional American troops to be sent to the region but estimates are it will be small.

The president solicited the recommendations as he remains concerned about the lack of progress against the Islamic State in those nations, especially in Syria. This all comes on the heels of an American and Russian agreement with regard to trying to prevent an accidental encounter between the warplanes of both nations over the Syrian skies.

Some of the suggestions included no-fly zones and neutral zones. Such barriers would require enormous amounts of military personnel to enforce. Many on the side of caution warn the president that such a huge infusion of troops may eventually, and inevitably, bring American soldiers in direct armed conflict with both the Russians and the Iranians.

Obama recently decided to keep a strong American presence in Afghanistan for another year despite a pledge to bring all of the troops home from that country. The new Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, is quite aggressive militarily and wants to increase that option. Others, however, would rather attack the Islamic State financially to disrupt their oil revenues in an effort to finally cripple their military prowess.