7:29 p.m. EDT September 7, 2014   WASHINGTON — President Obama will put forward his strategy for confronting Islamic State militants this week, meeting with congressional leaders Tuesday and giving a televised address Wednesday.

"This is not going to be an announcement about U.S. ground troops. This is not the equivalent of the Iraq War," he said on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday. "What this is is similar to the kinds of counterterrorism campaigns that we've been engaging in consistently over the last five, six, seven years."

Obama gave few details on his "game plan," other than to say the United States would "start going on some offense" against the Islamic militant group, also referred to by the acronyms ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) or ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).

His remarks came as the military expanded its airstrikes in western Iraq against Islamic State targets around the Haditha Dam. Previous airstrikes had been concentrated around the Mosul Dam, 170 miles to the north.

Obama said the United States would be part of an international coalition supporting Iraqi and Kurdish ground troops "so that they can start retaking territory that ISIL had taken over."

Republicans in Congress said Obama's remarks Sunday were a good first step, but he needs to be clearer when he addresses the nation Wednesday.

"First of all, he needs to acknowledge the problem of ISIS. There's been some confusion coming out of the administration. This is the toughest talk that we have heard from the president," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said on CNN's State of the Union. "That's a good thing, because they are a threat."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Obama should have given the speech months ago. "He needs to clearly outline what we're going to do about it, and I hope that will include a sustained air campaign involving every element of our air power, targeting their supply lines, targeting their command and control structure," he said on CBS' Face the Nation.

That includes airstrikes in Syria, Rubio said. "If you're serious about defeating ISIL, you have to go after where they're headquartered."

Obama did not rule that out. "The strategy both for Iraq and for Syria is that we will hunt down ISIL members and assets wherever they are," he said. He again emphasized that the effort would not involve significant U.S. ground forces. In Syria, he said, "the boots on the ground have to be Syrian."

Obama said he dispatched Secretary of State John Kerry to the region this week to meet with Sunni-majority Persian Gulf states who are beginning to see Sunni extremists such as the Islamic State as a threat. Those countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, need to help cultivate a "moderate Sunni opposition" in Syria.

Obama said he wants congressional support for his actions in the region, but he stopped short of saying he would ask Congress to vote to authorize a broader campaign.