The brave and visionary leadership - not - of the post-American note-takers

The WaPo's David Ignatius recounts his conversation with one deeply despairing man named Jalal al-Gaood.  al-Gaood is one of those millions of Iraqis whose hometowns have been overrun by ISIS:

Gaood, a 53-year-old businessman in Amman, talked through the night with tribal elders back home. He says he tried repeatedly to reach Gen. John Allen, the U.S. special envoy for Iraq and Syria, to plead for emergency help. By the time Allen got the message, it was too late. Urgent warnings that the town was about to be overrun also went to the Iraqi army commander at nearby Al-Asad Air Base. There was no response except for a helicopter that took surveillance pictures and then left. 

Allen said in an e-mail message late Thursday that he had forwarded Gaood’s messages to Centcom and the joint operations center in Baghdad as soon as he was aware of them and that the messages were acknowledged immediately. Allen said he has been a constant advocate for supporting the tribes across Iraq and is seeking ways to expand that support. 

What was the response from Allen's team?

“Gen. Allen said, ‘I will put you in touch with someone in Centcom.’ But it never happened,” Gaood says.

Military campaigns often start slowly, and that has certainly been the case with President Obama’s pledge to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State. When Allen visited tribal leaders in Amman, he cautioned that he was in “listening mode” while the United States prepared its strategy. The U.S. presentation was “vague,” says Gaood. “Every time the Iraqis meet with Americans, they just take notes.” 

Ignatius goes on to say that many of these Sunni tribal leaders feel they have no choice but to appease ISIS.

How long before our options here dwindle thusly?