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Iraq is a tangle of competing interests and the countries joining the fight are pulling the knot ever tighter.

Tony Abbott calls this a "necessary coalition" to fight against Islamist extremists, but he may come to rue friends like these.

Think on the complexities. Getting Turkey to back the Kurds, who aim to declare a fair chunk of Turkish territory as their homeland, will prove incredibly challenging in the months ahead.

So will the knowledge that any success against the fighters of Islamic State will inevitably relieve pressure on the regime of Bashar al-Assad in neighbouring Syria, which is intimately bound to the conflict.

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Saudi Arabia has claims to regional influence but is always hamstrung by its repressive politics at home.

All that before we even get to the West's new best friend - Iran.

Ever since the first war against Iraq, in 1991, the idea of a "coalition" of nations has become the gold standard to legitimise conflict.

But the 34 countries who sent troops or military support to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein had dwindled a decade later to just a willing four when George W. Bush invaded Iraq.

The big problem then - as now - was the lack of international authorisation.

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Iraq a tangle of competing interests