US to send 300 military advisers to Iraq

US President Barack Obama says the US is sending up to 300 "military advisers" to Iraq and may take "targeted military action" against Islamist insurgents

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US President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he was sending up to 300 military advisers to Iraq but stressed the need for a political solution to the crisis as government forces continued to battle Sunni rebels.

Speaking after a meeting with his national security team, Obama said he was prepared to take "targeted" military action later if deemed necessary, thus delaying but still keeping open the prospect of airstrikes to fend off an insurgency.

But he insisted that US troops would not return to combat in Iraq.

Obama said that another ground war would not solve Iraq's problems. The country's Shia-led government is facing a rebellion by Sunni fighters and members of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group.

"We do not have the ability to simply solve this problem by sending in tens of thousands of troops and committing the kinds of blood and treasure that has already been expended in Iraq," Obama said.

"Ultimately, this is something that is going to have to be solved by the Iraqis."

Obama said the advisers would "assess how we can best train and advise and support Iraqi security forces."

He added that the US was ready "to create joint operation centres in Baghdad and northern Iraq to share intelligence and coordinate planning to confront the terrorist threat of ISIL."

"We will help Iraqis as they take to fight terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people, the region and American interests as well," he said.

"We will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it."

The US president said Iraqi leaders should rise above their differences and find a political solution to the crisis.

Obama however stopped short of calling for Nouri al-Maliki to resign as Iraqi prime minister, saying it was not up to the US to choose Iraq's leaders.

"There is deep division between Sunni, Shia and Kurdish leaders and as long as those deep divisions continue or worsen, it's going to be very hard for an Iraqi central government to direct an Iraqi military to deal with these threats."

Obama also said that Shia-led Iran could play a constructive role in Iraq if it sends a message to Baghdad to be inclusive and respectful of the interests of Sunni Muslims and Kurds.

He said the situation could worsen if Iran entered the conflict solely on the side of the Shia government, adding that Iran could find itself fighting on several fronts across the region.

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President Barack Obama pledged to take "precise" military action if needed to check marauding Sunni radicals in Iraq and offered up to 300 US advisors to train Iraqi forces facing a crisis splintering the country along sectarian lines.

But Obama, who based an entire political career on ending US involvement in Iraq, insisted the United States was not slipping back into the morass -- and warned Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iran that promoting sectarianism would spell disaster.

Obama signed off on White House action after meeting his top national security advisors to discuss how to respond to swift gains by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) insurgents who have seized several key cities and threaten to advance on Baghdad.

The fighters have grabbed northern Iraq's biggest city, Mosul, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, left an unknown number dead and alarmed Western nations who fear the establishment of a vast new "terror" haven.

ISIL fighters also seized one of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons factories, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday, though she said the United States did not believe any materials remaining on the site could be used for military purposes, because they were old and "very difficult, if not impossible, to safely move."

Obama was adamant, in any case, that "American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq."
"But we will help Iraqis as they take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people, the region and American interests as well," he said.
 
Obama said he had already bolstered surveillance and intelligence capabilities in the country as he weighs possible military operations in the US national interest.

"Going forward, we will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it," said Obama.

Washington has already positioned an aircraft carrier in the Gulf and is also considering using drone strikes against ISIL militants.

Senior US officials privately said that special forces being sent to advise Iraqi forces could also be used to call in air strikes if necessary.

A senior US official said the US advisors would operate in small teams of about a dozen special operators embedded at "upper headquarters" level in the Iraqi forces, and perhaps later at brigade level.
The deployments would happen "very soon," the official said.

Military officials also confirmed that US forces were already flying F-18 and unmanned surveillance flights over Iraq.

It remains unclear, however, whether ISIL forces deployed in civilian areas will provide suitable targets for US aircraft or drones, and the risk of casualties could give Washington pause.

The president said he was prepared to send up to 300 military advisors to Iraq -- in addition to 175 troops currently protecting the US embassy and 100 more on standby -- to assess how to train, advise and support Iraqi forces.

The US government, which spent billions of dollars building up the Iraqi army after disbanding the Sunni-led force of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, was dismayed by the way some units laid down their arms and fled the advance of ISIL fighters.

But Iraqi forces now appear to be performing better, and regained full control of the country's largest oil refinery in Baiji.

The Pentagon has noted a stiffening of resistance among security forces around Baghdad and a flood of volunteers to Shiite militias may also be helping.

Maliki also ordered security officers not serving in active units to report, to bolster forces battling the militant offensive.

Despite opening the way to a more overt role in Iraq, Obama warned that there was no military solution to the crisis.

He said Maliki's actions could dictate the fate of the country, amid a growing feeling in Washington that the Iraqi leader would do best by moving on.

"The test is before him and other Iraqi leaders as we speak," Obama said, calling for an end to mistrust, deep sectarian divides and political opportunism.

Obama also warned Iran, which has cultivated Maliki as a Shiite ally, that it must play a positive role -- and that if it did not, could threaten its own security.

"(An) Iraq in chaos on their borders is probably not in their interests. But old habits die hard," Obama said.

Washington has said it is open to working with its foe to stabilize Iraq, but has ruled out any kind of military cooperation.

Obama also announced a new diplomatic initiative, sending Secretary of State John Kerry to Europe and the Middle East this weekend to consult on next steps with US allies and Iraq's neighbors.

Congressional sources said Kerry would travel to Iraq "soon."

Oil prices soared to a new nine-month high because of the violence in Iraq, and the attack on the refinery.
Britain banned ISIL, adding it to a list of proscribed organizations along with four other groups linked to the Syrian conflict, as fears grow the radicals could pose a direct threat to European security.

India said it knows the location of its 40 workers abducted from Mosul as several of their families said they spoke with the captured men who were scared but "safe."

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