The U.S. has its feelers out all across the Middle East, looking to convince Sunni forces to fight the Islamic State, the militant group that has taken large swaths of land in both Iraq and Syria.

U.S. officials are hesitant to commit ground troops to fight the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, but have been conducting air strikes in Iraq and are reportedly considering air strikes in neighboring Syria, according to a Reuters report.

Diplomats have been holding meetings with various Sunni groups, looking for support.

"There were meetings in Arbil. There were meetings in Amman," said James Jeffrey, the former U.S. diplomat to Iraq, referring to talks between tribal groups and U.S. officials in the capitals of Kurdistan and Jordan. "There is a lot of traffic right now."

The Sunnis are reluctant to offer assistance to the U.S. and Iraq after the Awakening movement that drove al-Qaida out of Iraq in 2008. Many Sunnis regard the Awakening as a betrayal and have looked the other way on ISIS activities. ISIS is a Sunni group.

Both the U.S. and Iraq say that this proposal isn't another awakening but instead will create a sort of Sunni "National Guard" and will help stop oppression from the Shi'ite Iraqi security forces.

The U.S. has approached Ahmed Abu Risha, a Sunni leader of militants that fought al Qaeda in Iraq, for help reaching out to other Sunni leaders. Abu Risha said there are more than 20 Sunni leaders speaking with U.S. diplomats.

"These leaders are willing to assist the U.S. forces in fighting (Islamic State) and they have been reorganizing the Awakening forces, which currently has 22,000 members still fighting against (Islamic State)," he said, adding that 32,000 fighters are ready to fight with U.S. and Iraqi forces against ISIS.

Despite U.S. hesitation to deploy ground troops in Iraq, Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it's too early to rule anything out, according to ABC News.

"To be clear, if we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I will recommend that to the president," Dempsey said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has pledge to "degrade and destroy" ISIS with air strikes, which have now been going on for a few weeks. The U.S. airstrikes have helped push back ISIS forces in and around Kurdistan.