Barack Obama says he will send up to 300 military advisers, but not soldiers, to Iraq and will consider targeted military action in future – but calls on Iraq’s leaders to “reach out” to all Iraqis.
Barack Obama said that the crisis in Iraq needed to be “solved by the Iraqis”, and that US intervention was not the answer.
But he also said the US was prepared to take “targeted and precise military action” in future, depending on how the situation unfolds, and that he would consult with US congress and the Iraqi government before making any moves.
The US president began his address by announcing that he had “significantly increased” the country’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets of Isis insurgents, and said that the government was prepared to send up to 300 military advisors to Iraq.
He called on Iraqi leaders to “rise above their differences” and unite on a political plan for Iraq’s future, and said that the US would play a role in supporting the Iraqi government.
However he remained adament that US soldiers would not be fighting in combat, and referred to the long shadow cast by the last time America was involved in Iraq.
He made the the address following a meeting with his national security team on Thursday, and it comes after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the Iraqi government publicly appealed for US airpower.
Watch what President Obama said today about the situation in Iraq: http://t.co/P0RilaBAb4
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 19, 2014
Iraqi government forces were still battling with Sunni rebels for control of the country’s biggest refinery on Thursday, after Isis insurgents stormed the site the day before. A government spokesman said that Iraqi forces were in “complete control”, but a witness in Baiji said that fighting was still ongoing.
But sources said that Washington was sceptical about intervening, given the risk of civilian deaths and how it would be perceived by Iraq’s once dominant Sunni minority. The US has so far been appealing for unity within the Iraq government, and asked Mr al-Maliki to work more closely with Sunni leaders.
The request for US aid came two and a half years after America ended its nine-year occupation of Iraq that began when Sadam Hussein was toppled in 2003.
Isis, which considers Iraq’s ruling Shi’ite Muslim majority as heretics, and in league with neighbouring Iran, has led a Sunni charge across northern Iraq after capturing the major city of Mosul last week.
The group’s advance has only been slowed by the Iraqi military, which has been boosted by volunteers, and Shi’ite militias. The government announced on Thursday that those who joined up to fight in “hot areas” would be paid about $150 a week by the state.
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