The Guardian Reports,"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 Nouri al-Maliki, which 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.
“This is an area that we’ve been watching with a lot of concern not just over the last couple of days but over the last several months,” Obama said.
He 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”.
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.""
