Washington ( CNN ) ISIS is a problem that is `` off the charts historically '' and has sent the United States into `` uncharted territory '' when it comes to putting down the terror group , the Obama administration 's point man in the fight recently told CNN . The comments , which Brett McGurk made in an exclusive interview , were some of the administration 's strongest to date in describing the challenge the United States and its allies face in battling ISIS . `` This is a problem that is off the charts historically , '' he said , referring to the more than 20,000 foreign fighters who have gone into Syria . `` Just put that into perspective : It 's about twice the number that went into Afghanistan in the 1980s over a 10-year period to fight the Soviet Union , and those came really from only a handful of countries . '' He concluded , `` We 're in unchartered territory here . '' McGurk just returned from an urgent summit of coalition nations held in Jordan . Last week , Canada became the latest nation to conduct airstrikes against ISIS over Syria . The United States now lists 62 countries in the coalition . As the U.S.-led coalition has focused attention on Iraq and Syria , ISIS has expanded its reach to Libya , Egypt and Yemen , often with existing extremist groups pledging allegiance to the militants . McGurk did not rule out expanding U.S. military action beyond Iraq and Syria to combat the increasing regional threat . `` We have a lot of tools to protect ourselves and our national security interests , some of which are military tools , '' he said . `` Of course we apply those tools when the president determines and our chain of command makes the recommendation that that is the right thing to do . '' The United States has also been stepping up efforts to involve Sunni groups in the fight against ISIS . To date , that involvement has been extremely limited as Sunni tribes see Shiite militias , many with horrendous human rights records , take the lead . But McGurk said that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is making progress getting Sunni tribes to support a planned Iraqi offensive against ISIS in Anbar province in the coming weeks . He stressed the importance of working with al-Abadi , noting that the Iraqi leader was in Anbar province last week handing out more than 1,000 AK-47s to tribal fighters who are going to join the Iraqi security forces . `` We are helping to enable and train ( them ) as they begin to go on the offensive over the coming weeks and months in Anbar , '' McGurk said . `` They put out this very perverse , twisted vision , and it 's very attractive to a lot of young men around the world , '' he acknowledged . `` But in fact , what the foreign fighters are finding in Syria and Iraq is that they 're more likely to get killed in Iraq and Syria , and in fact , instead of getting a slave bride as ISIS leaders promise them , they 're more likely to get killed by a female Peshmerga fighter in the streets of Kobani . '' That bottom line , he assessed , could turn the tide : `` The foreign fighters are learning the reality of what it 's like when they go to join this twisted version of a caliphate , and I think we 're going to see those networks begin to dry up . ''
Obama 's point man in ISIS fight does n't rule out U.S. military action beyond Iraq and Syria . Comment: