Obama says U.S. ready to send advisers to Iraq

President Barack Obama said on Thursday he was sending up to 300 U.S. military advisers to Iraq but stressed the need for a political solution to the country's crisis as government forces battled Sunni rebels for control of the country's biggest refinery.         

Speaking at a news conference after a meeting with his top national security advisers, Obama said he was prepared to take "targeted" military action later if deemed necessary, thus delaying but still keeping open the prospect of U.S. air strikes against a militant insurgency. But he insisted that U.S. troops would not return to combat in Iraq.         

Obama urged the Shi'ite government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to take urgent steps to heal the sectarian rift, something U.S. officials say the Iraqi leader has failed to do so far and which an al Qaeda splinter group leading the Sunni insurgency has exploited.        

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

Obama, who withdrew U.S. troops from Iraq at the end of 2011, said the United States would significantly increase support for Iraq's beleaguered security forces, including sending up to 300 military advisers. But Obama stopped short of acceding to Baghdad's request for the use of U.S. air power.        

Senior U.S. lawmakers have called for Maliki to step down, and Obama administration officials have also made clear their frustration with him.
          
While Obama did not join calls for Maliki to go, saying "it's not our job to choose Iraq's leaders," he avoided any expression of confidence in the embattled Iraqi prime minister when asked by a reporter whether he would do so.          

President Obama also said Iran can play a constructive role in Iraq if it follows the U.S. lead in pressing for all sides within Iraq to be respected.       

Obama said the United States had pressed Iran not to encourage steps that would lead to civil war within Iraq.


REUTERS