Hours before President Obama announced US airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria and called for training and arming of “moderate” Syrian insurgents, a prominent activist on social media pointed to an important sign of the American commitment:

“The 47th”, who has been a reliable source on the Syrian conflict for years, said Syrian Army defectors from Homs, Hama, Damascus and “even all the way from Aleppo” had been transported to Jordan. He added that US Secretary of State John Kerry will be meeting “all top defected Syrian Generals in Amman”, including Mustafa al-Sheikh, Manaf Tlass, and Mohammad Khallouf.

So is this the beginning of a coordinated campaign to confront not only the Islamic State but also the Assad regime, after more than two years of American indecision?

Not yet.

The information from “The 47th” is not complete — there were already thousands of Free Syrian fighters and Army defectors in Jordan before this week’s movements. The US has long been involved in a coordinating center in Jordan to train the men and has provided limited amounts of weapons, while blocking bigger shipments including the provision of significant anti-tank and anti-air weaponry.

The issue has never been the number of men willing to fight or their training. It has been stable supplies of arms and ammunition, as well as the logistics to ensure delivery in support of a coordinated campaign.

So an additional 4,000 fighters means little if the infantry gear for them is more than the US is willing to support. And even if that is arranged, there is the question of rocket launchers, artillery, and anti-tank guided missiles and the transport for all the equipment.

Perhaps most importantly, an armed insurgent force still needs air defense. The Assad regime’s trump card has long been the aerial operations to break up opposition offensives, and the air force is still in place to attack any columns which are not moving in the dead of night.

So President Obama’s speech — delivered in part to make up for his declaration two weeks ago that “we don’t have a strategy” — still does not match up with news such as the insurgents who are in Jordan or on their way there.

Are these men being moved to Jordan only as a transit point on the way to the new facilities in Saudi Arabia, to then be trained for the fight against the Islamic State?

Or is the US finally serious about backing an insurgent force to challenge the Assad regime — support that will have to include weapons and aerial support far beyond the general statements by Obama last night?