WASHINGTON — President Obama promised to “redouble” U.S. efforts against Islamic State after the terrorist attacks in Paris, but officials offered few details of what he meant.

That could change when French President Francois Hollande visits the White House Tuesday as part of a trip to create what Hollande called a “grand and single coalition” that would link the United States, France and Russia against the militants.

Obama said this week that he would support military cooperation with Moscow if it focuses on defeating Islamic State, and not on propping up Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The French seem to be groping for a course that would increase pressure on Islamic State, while stopping short of the major military escalation that Obama has ruled out.

French officials signaled that they won’t ask Obama to deploy large numbers of ground troops to Syria or Iraq. Another invasion by Western ground forces would be Islamic State’s “dream,” Gerard Araud, the French ambassador to the U.S., said this week.

A U.S.-led coalition has conducted more than 8,000 airstrikes on Islamic State targets since mid-2014. But three in four pilots now return without dropping any bombs because they can’t find appropriate targets, or fear hitting civilians, according to the Pentagon.


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