Obama: US won’t send troops to Iraq

US President Barack Obama has ruled out sending American troops “back into combat” in Iraq to help fight the growing threat of al-Qaeda-inspired Takfiri militants in that country.

“We will not be sending US troops back into combat in Iraq,” Obama said on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday, with his Marine One helicopter seen in the background.

“But I have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraq’s security forces. And I’ll be reviewing those options in the days ahead,” the president added.

Obama further stressed that “ultimately it’s up to Iraqis to solve their problems,” acknowledging that military help from the United States won’t make much of a difference.

Unnamed US officials on Friday said the White House is “urgently and expediently” considering military action to halt the rapid advance of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Extremist militants from ISIL have reportedly captured two provincial capitals this week, namely Tikrit in Salahuddin Province and Iraq’s second city of Mosul in the northern province of Nineveh.

Over the past days, Iraqi armed forces have been engaged in fierce clashes with the terrorists, who have threatened to capture other Iraqi cities, including the capital, Baghdad.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has recently said authorities will arm citizens in Nineveh and other regions to fight militants.

Obama confirmed that the troubles in Iraq were spilling over from Syria and “given the nature of these terrorists, it could pose a threat eventually to American interests as well.”

The US and its allies are supporting the foreign-backed militants operating inside Syria to overthrow the elected government of President Bashar al-Assad. The US has recently started supplying the militants with arms.

Obama also noted that his country “is not simply going to involve itself in a military action in the absence of a political plan by the Iraqis.”

“People should not anticipate this is something that is going to happen overnight,” he said. “We want to make sure that we have good eyes on the situation there. We want to make sure we’ve gathered all the intelligence that is necessary so that if I do order action” it will be precise and direct.