Obama pledges US support to Iraq as Isis militants approach Baghdad

• White House weighing air strikes but not ground troops
• Senators say Pentagon briefing ‘scared the hell’ out of them

by Dan Roberts, The Guardian
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President Barack Obama pledged the US would help the Iraqi government push back an Islamic insurgency threatening to overwhelm Baghdad on Thursday, saying he had “not ruled anything out”.

Amid mounting pressure in Washington for a robust response to the rapid advances made by forces of the Islamic State and the Levant (Isis), the White House is understood to be examining a number of options including air support for Baghdad.

But he also said the advance of the Islamists should act as a “wake-up call” to the Shia-dominated government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has been accused of running a partisan government that has alienated the Sunni minority.

In brief comments to reporters after a meeting with Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, Obama said he was watching the situation in Iraq with concern and wants to ensure that jihadists do not get a foothold.

The crisis escalated rapidly on Thursday as Iraqi Kurdish forces took control of key military installations in the major oil city of Kirkuk and the Sunni jihadi group Isis revealed its intention to move on Baghdad and cities in the southern Shia heartland.

Obama admitted that the scale of the insurgency in recent days demonstrated the need for more help. “I don’t rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foot hold in either Iraq or Syria, for that matter.” The president said his national security advisers were “looking at all the options”.

White House officials later clarified that the president had been referring to US air strikes when insisting that all options were open and that he did not envision any circumstances in which ground troops could return to the country.

“We are actively considering requests from the Iraqi government to assist in this very serious situation,” press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. The administration said that vice president Joe Biden had spoken to Maliki by telephone and pledged US support.

The administration argues the responsibility for security rests primarily with the Iraqi government and the White House repeated its earlier criticism of Maliki for his failure to secure national support with more inclusive policies.

“The fact is we can’t be everywhere at all times to meet the challenge faced by extremist groups like ISIS,” Carney said when pressed on why the US was not doing more.

Earlier, senators briefed by the Pentagon on the deteriorating security situation said it “scared the hell” out of them. “The briefing was chilling … Iraq is falling apart,” said senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina.

Graham and fellow Republican hawk John McCain have been leading calls in Washington for a more robust response and have criticised Obama for not leaving a residual US force in Iraq to prevent such a crisis.

“We are facing a disaster here, not only in Iraq but Syria. Extremist groups now control more territory than at any time in history,” said McCain.

“Our failure to leave forces behind in Iraq is the reason that senator Graham and I predicted that this might happen and unfortunately our worst fears are being realised.”

“This contradicts everything the president said in the 2012 campaign that he was ending wars. This is one of the gravest threats to our nation’s national security since the end of the cold war. ”

Asked by the Guardian if US air intervention would make any difference, McCain said: “There are many options, but the options become fewer and fewer as the startling success of the ISIS continues. We need to act rather rapidly, but that has to be comprehensive strategy.”

McCain called on Obama to fire his military advisers. “The president should get rid of his entire national security team, including the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and bring the team in who won the conflict in Iraq in to turn this situation around, but it’s going to be extremely difficult to do so.”

The administration struck an unapologetic tone in the face of criticism of its earlier withdrawal from Iraq, insisting the current crisis also “does not change” its decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan.

The US “should not be occupying other countries for decades” said Carney, pointing out that not even the most hawkish administration critics were advocating the return of ground troops to Iraq.

“There is no question that McCain and president Obama have differed on the Iraq war since McCain was for it and Obama was against it,” Carney added.

Nevertheless, the crisis is a major setback for one of Obama’s flagship foreign policy achievements.

“There is no question that the president pledged to end the war in Iraq, and he did,” said Carney before being forced to clarify that he meant the president ended the “US combat mission”.