syrian rebels. here is the president. good evening. today the united states continues to build a broad international coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as isil. as part of the air campaign france will join in strikes against isil in iraq. and as one of our oldest and closest allies, france is a strang partner in our efforts against terrorism and we are pleased that french and american service members will once again work together on our shared security and our shared values. more than 40 countries, including arab nations have offered assistance. this includes support for iraqi forces, strengthening the iraqi government, providing humanitarian aid to the iraqi civilians and doing their part in the fight against isil. here at home, i m pleased that congress, a majority of democrats and a majority of republicans, in both the house and the senate, have voted to support a key element of our strategy. our plan to train and equip the opposition i