President Obama today indicated he is prepared to order airstrikes to combat advancing Islamist rebels in Iraq, saying he may authorize “targeted and precise military action” depending on the situation on the ground.
Obama, who appeared in the briefing room today at the White House following a meeting with his national security team, did not say when strikes might occur. He promised that he would “consult with members of Congress” with respect to the strikes, but pointedly did not say he would seek prior approval before taking any actions.
Obama also said he would send up to 300 “military advisors” to assist the Iraqi military.
But he ruled out the use of combat troops in the country.
“American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq, but we will help Iraqis as they take the fight to terrorists,” he said.
Obama denied the dispatch of military advisors would lead to a return to a U.S. combat role.
“We always have to guard against mission creep” he said, repeating that American troops won’t fight in Iraq again.
“We do not have the ability to simply solve this problem by sending in tens of thousand of troops and committing the type of blood and treasure that have already been expended in Iraq,” he said. “This is something that ‘s going to have to be solved by the Iraqis.”
Obama added, though that it is in U.S. national interests for Iraq not to be in a state of civil war and for the country not to become a safe haven for terrorists.
He dismissed a question from a reporter about whether he regretted not leaving a residual U.S. force in Iraq.
“That wasn’t a decision made by me, that was a decision made by the Iraqi government,” Obama said.
Obama didn’t rule out Iran having a positive impact on Iraq.
“Our view is that Iran can play a constructive role” if it support unity between ethnic groups in Iraq,” Obama said. But “if Iran is coming in solely as an armed force on behalf of the Shia . . . then that probably worsens the situation.”
He offered the Mullahs some advice, saying that supporting sectarian battles around the region would be bad for Iran and its economy.
He said that while “old habits die hard,” there was hope for Iran to change. “We’ll se if they can take a more promising path over the next several days,” he said.
The president said the United States would ramp up its intelligence gathering capabilities and efforts and coordinate planning and intel with the Iraqis. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Europe to begin a coordinated diplomatic effort to address the Iraq crisis.
“The fate of Iraq hangs in the balance,” Obama acknowledged, saying he hoped such a situation would spur Iraqis to solve their problem. U.S. troops cannot do it for them, he said.
“We can provide them the space. We can provide them the tools, but ultimately they’re going to have to make those decisions,” he said.
Obama said it would be a priority for him to keep Americans in Iraq safe. He added that he will develop strategies to deal in the long term with ISIS, the Jihadist group rampaging through Iraq.
96 thoughts on “Obama Prepared to Order Airstrikes in Iraq”
“he is prepared” What in blazes does that mean? Coming from the Liar in Chief it could mean something or nothing. “Prepared” What is he going on a camping trip or getting ready to take an exam?
What’s that word? Oh yeah, Feckless.
Junius…..don’t you love it? “He is prepared”…..just like his usual “I’m going to make sure”……good god – we deserve something so much better.
He’s prepared….to go out to more high profile (non-billionaires !) fund raising events and to spend the weekend on the golf course …going for that 180 times record, you know. Yeah, he’s prepared.
“depending on the situation on the ground”
The ground under his feet? With Obama there’s always a qualifier.
How in the world can we pick a side in this civil war. Everyone there is either a terrorist or a would-be terrorist. Both sides hate us, will always hate us, and have vowed publically or privately to kill every one of us.
We tried, our valiant troops gave their all, and it was all for naught. Islamists don’t want democracy, don’t want peace in their country, and prove that every day.
It’s long past time we mind our own business and let them sort it out themselves.
I miss the Crusades…
“Kill them all, let Allah sort them out.”
Iugulo Lemma Totus.
Obama is still arrogant enough to think he can talk them off the cliff.
He is a fool.
Fool or coward. I am going for latter.
May I add arrogant ignorant incompetent amateur narcissist Chicago thug Alinsky community organizer to the mix?
D
I
T
T
O
d
I
t
t
o
D
I
T
T
O
The best analysis of the war in Iraq, ever.
**** (4 stars)
My reply was to srdem65.
Agree!
Executive Management: to be an executive, you need to execute orders. To be a manager, you need to manage problems.
Using terms like probably, prepared to, depending, these are not words that successful executive managers use.
What he is good at is deflecting….reminds me of the little Rascals episode where the boy is in a play, dressed as a Roman warrior, including a shield. He would say, Friends, Romans, countrymen, let me your ears, and then the kids in the audience would shoot pea shooters at him, causing him to stop and raise his shield in retreat.
H
“Using terms like probably, prepared to, depending, these are not words that successful executive managers use.” Very True. But the thing is Obama has no understanding of the words he is using. He has absolutely no understanding of the unintended consequences of what he is planning to do. He’s just reading what someone else has written for him.
Harv and Marcus, he’s not an executive manager and never was. He was and has always been a mere politician. Politicians love ambiguous language. He wants to campaign (not military) always and never govern.
Maybe if we elected someone who had RUN or MANAGED anything instead of an Alinsky community organizer who set records voting “PRESENT”, we’d not have this problem
LOL! It’s Malaki’s fault! Malaki said he expected Obama to negotiate a SOF agreement but he just walked away. And guess what….I take Malaki’s word over Obama’s. If the truth be known, Obama wanted Iraq to fail b/c it was Bush’s war.
The sad truth is that the entire Democratic party wanted to lose the war so they could benefit politically. Its much worse than just Obama.
Pingback: Live Stream || Obama Comments on Iraq | The Blog on Obama: White House Dossier
I agree with Oliver North who was on Megan Kelly last night: the only thing Obama should be doing is evacuating Americans from Iraq.
BINGO !!!!
This. And he should shut the heck up about what good Iran will
bring to the table. Obama refuses to recognize the enemies of the United States.
I am not an isolationist, but in the interests of our military, everyone should be recalled from “hot spots” and “zones” — Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East Africa until this man is no longer CIC.
“military advisors”?
Isn’t that what we sent to Vietnam in the early ’60s?
18,000 of them.
We did and the term sucked then. Sucks even worse now knowing what ensued then. This grifter doesn’t know or doesn’t care. Maybe he will send Lurch to command a swiftboat in the persian gulf. That would be classic.
Perhaps he will windsail in — solo — all glory!
My first thought also. “military advisors” As Sadie noted, 18,000 of them…that was for starters.
OMG !! He is such a disgrace !!!
It will be amazing if the people of the USA will ever recover from his blunders ….
That Obama took questions is headline news all by itself!
The more danger he is in politically the more he “opens” up. Probably if you reviewed the comments carefully there are many potential scapegoats and escape from responsibility routes.
A few favs from my live tweeting Obozo’s presser:
#Obama again says we “can’t just play Whac A Mole” w/ terrorists. OK Mr. Genius, how about “Cowboys and Islamists”? #tcot
#Obama on #Isis: “It’s going to take some long term strategy…It’s fluid..they’re filling a vacuum” A vacuum HE created! #tcot
#Obama to #Iraq: “Get going on this government formation” Can someone find this idiot’s college transcripts? I’m thinking a 1.6 GPA #tcot
#Obama “Iraq only works if it’s inclusive” Obviously World History was not an Obama college course. #tcot
#Obama blames #Iraq, not his own failure to negotiate, for no residual force that would have prevented this current fuster cluck. #EpicFail
After #Obama on #Iraq and #ISIS I swear if he POTUS on Dec 7th ’41 he’d have blamed it on mistrust that needs to be worked through. #tcot
Feel free to share and spread. Obama needs all the snark and sarcasm this nation can send his way.
Twitchy worthy.
why thank you ma’am I’m honored!
OK, I’m outta da loop. What does ‘twitchy’ refer to?
J — Twitchy is a curation/aggregation space of Tweets on Twitter, much like Drudge is an aggregator. It was started by Michelle Malkin (and subsequently sold I believe — not sure). It is largely conservatives responding to liberal tweets. Here is the link to the announcement of Twitchy
http://michellemalkin.com/2012/03/07/announcing-twitchy-com/
And here is a link to Twitchy about the Free Beacon being denied access to the Clinton library. I chose this one because I seem to recall you and your husband are (not Clinton) fans. :) Enjoy.
http://twitchy.com/2014/06/20/free-beacon-banned-from-clinton-presidential-library-for-reporting-on-hillary/
#Obama “Iraq only works if it’s inclusive”
Its too bad he does not feel that way about America. In a way, Obama has acted very similar to Malaki by cutting Republicans out of the political process and using the power of the government to disenfranchise them.
If current trends continue, its only a matter of time before there is an armed rebellion in America.
I particularly like Iraq only works if its inclusive.
Good job. Definitely Twitter and Twitchy worthy.
All aircraft will be restricted to using blanks.
They will not be allowed to exceed the sound barrier.
After all, we do not want to excite the citizens.
Sorry for my french, but this pissant should not hold that office any longer.
He is an embarrassment to this Country.
F/A 18’s are flying recon missions over the area.
Load the birds with ordinance and take out the trucks and the tanks on the road to Baghdad.
ROE should be thrown away, let’s let our military rock and roll.
-As of 3:05 PM EST I just tried to watch Shep Smith on FNC…
SHEP is SO,SO OBNOXIOUS & BIASED when it comes to these reports about Iraq going to H#ll (Shep = its all Bush-Cheney’s fault & the Iraqis…)
I have to watch CNN at 3pm EST now just to get some news…
I like Cavuto at 4 on FBN.
I have to turn off Shep at 3pm, but I switch back to FNC at 4pm to see Cavuto.
I can even deal with “The 5” at 5pm…
(but Beckel and Eric Bolling are P#ssing me off when they talk about Iraq/Mid-East and have NO CLUE what they are talking about…)
Fairy boy needs some sheep in the studio to enhance his credibility.
Shep Smith = Rainbow flags
Reminds me of the punch line I heard about a joke about WY once: Sorry, officer, I was only helping this here sheep over the fence.
AFVet,
I am a USN Vet but F/A-18s are piss-ant ‘tactical aircraft’ (no real bomb load, or range)
We need some USAF B-52s to CARPET BOMB (500-1000-MOABs) Iraq today :-)
The range depends on the availability of the refueling capability that the Air Force or the Navy can provide.
I would send in A-10 Thunderbolts, (Warthogs) to destroy the tanks and the vehicles that are on the march.
Let the F/A18’s give them cover.
I’m with you. I’ve seen Warthogs in action. They do the job.
US and it’s allies caused the deaths of over 600,000 Iraqis when they invaded that country the last tome. How many more Iraqis do we want to kill now? Who are the terrorists?
You will not last long on this thread,…fair warning.
Hey “BBF”,
Kill them all, Let Allah sort them out…
:-)
B52 + Sand + Heat = Glass
Why fly USAF B-52s when we have…
US Navy D5 SLBM Trident II + W88s = a glass parking lot :-)
A B52 is lousy at close air support.
An A10 Thunderbolt is excellent, probably one of the finest close air support aircraft ever built.
Obama has decommissioned the A-10.
Go figure.
AFVet. Is that correct about the decommissioning of the A-10’s.
I’m not doubting your word, but I had no idea this happened, none at all.
I’ve seen the A-10 in action via internet videos, and all I can say is once they spot you, no sense in running, you’ll only die tired.
Thks for the intel.
Yes,…they are slated for decommission.
That is a stupid decision.
Pilots love them because they are easy to fly, meaning the airframe wants to fly.
As a close air support weapon, they are unmatched.
During the Iraq war, enemy tank crews would get out of their tanks when they saw A10’s in the air.
A 30mm Gatling gun + bombs and missiles is a deadly deterrent to anything moving.
Good point, why waste the fuel. And to AFVet below, I wasn’t suggesting B52 for close air support, I was suggesting for high altitude release of Hiroshima times 10.
Gotcha !
The B1s and the B2s will be available if needed.
I heard, on the fly, that ISIS has learned from the past and a bit of COIN and that they can now hold and advance. Anybody know about this — does this matter to us if we are not going to be fully engaged. I don’t get Obama’s “strategy” . But I am thinking that this would allow them to hold, wait out Obama who has the attention span of a gnat, and advance on Baghdad when Obama gets bored.
I’ll say ISIS begins on Baghdad once Obama shows he’s “bored” by hitting the links and fundraisers gracepmc.
Just like he did when this crisis started.
Dear Cisco, please proof read before posting …ISIS begins it’s final assault on Baghdad…
Thks, Cisco
So, thi
So, this weekend then?
Langley, my thinking has always been about what you say – let them kill one another and the hell with them. Allah will take care of the ones he wants…
Oh, so it’s up to 600,000 now?
I do wish you leftists would make up your minds on just how many Iraqis we ‘murdered’.
Not enough Iraqi terrorists that’s for sure.
I am with you, BFF–not these bomb them back to the stone age commenters. Speak up if you want! We are talking about refugees who have now lost everything, children, women, and these bloodthirsty comments disgust me. We should stay out if that is the only alternative. What is WE were not the super power and the country that was got sick of the gang wars here and thought the gangs might spread to them–should they make a glass tabletop of Chicago–do you know people in Chicago?
Hmmmmm, Chicago as a glass table top. Illinois would be a red state again, one less crime infested, corrupt political machine, financially broke democrat cesspool draining away precious tax dollars. Hmmmmmm, Chicago as a glass table top…..Hmmmmmmm
I cannot hold my breath that long.
Star, do you have any idea at all what’s going on in the world around you? Do you have any idea what’s happening to women at the hands of muslim men, often their relatives? Do you have any idea of how many people have been blown up, shot, beheaded, or mutilated, by muslims? If there is a convoy marching from one place to another, they are like ducks in a shooting gallery. They can be eliminated with little collateral damage. Once they get into a city, it’s too late. Opportunity missed. To not take advantage of that makes as much sense as the ROE of the last few years.
As far as Chicago goes: they could turn certain areas into glass with minimum collateral damage. Absolutely. Chicago gangs only used to kill each other. Now, they just shoot. Anybody.
Sure he does,…she’s the token antagonist.
300 Spartans …………………………
Here we go again, sending in advisers, just like we did in Vietnam! Then what happened, the North Vietnamese killed all of our advisers! I say start the bombing so we can pave it over to make a parking lot for Turkey & all of the middle east along with them! Some one hand Obama your spine! See what happens when you just pull out, all that is left behind are cowards running for the hills! WTH is wrong with those people? Do they want their entire country overthrown? Is the other Mus Slime country Iran going to get involved too? What a clusterf**k this is turning out to be again. Vietnam was under a democrat, & now with the Mus Slime in the White House. What a dickhead!
Mus Slime–that’s really evolved…
Star,
You have to remember that Muslims (from Morocco to Indonesia) still worship & wish they lived in the 14th Century AD.
About as evolved as kill the infidels.
“Above all, Iraqi leaders must rise above their differences and come together around a political plan for Iraq’s future.”
Oh, the irony!!! Does he even proof-read the words of his speechwriters?
That’s about the most impossible conclusion that will ever happen in “Iraq”, and he knows it. Was he posing with his Nobel Peace Prize when he uttered those words? “Hey, Souza, get me from this angle.”
Military advisors sent to South Vietnam.. May 1961…400 Green Beret ‘Special Advisors; Kennedy was President.
by……….
December 1964
Special Advisors in SVN number 23,000
Johnson was President …
He didn’t do one damn thing to help S.Vietnam or our returning Military ‘Special Advisors’.
God Bless our Military
Yes Ma’am.
Oh wow, Obama and his advisors still have hope that Iran will “change”???? CLUELESS!
It will be interesting to see what gets dumped into tomorrow afternoon’s late news leaks from the “Gubmint”. Rest assured this is all designed to make Owe-Bama look presidential when he has absolutely no clue as to what he is doing, even on the golf course.
I bet he has a 40+ handicap!!! I feel sorry for those secret service guys who have to follow him around all day. He bounces around like a hard-hit ping pong ball.
Pingback: If Iran does not have nukes now, how long will it take to get them? |
Is this with the permission of Congress or is he talking of going to war?
Well, The slippery slope begins!!! Notice..”has authority to bypass Congress.”..and he will. It is possible to choke on a Nobel Peace Prize? He won’t swallow it, but maybe Iraq will shove it down his throat. It is a very depressing time: children used as frontal assault pawns in an invasion; Lerner’s criminal records’ destruction. distrust even among Obama’s useful idiots. How could we be so duped?
Iraq was a CONQUERED nation; it was America’s choice, NOT Iraq’s, and O made the WRONG choice! He doesn’t get to weasel out on Americans’ lives HIS action made the loss of to be in vain!
I’ll state the obvious, get our people out of there and let them kill each other. They don’t want any help and we have done too much already.
On Iran: “Our view is that Iran can play a constructive role”
“old habits die hard,” there was hope for Iran to change. “We’ll se if they can take a more promising path over the next several days,”
…and after it is all said and done, we will sit around the campfire and sing Kumbaya. Unbelievable!
“You better worry about the most powerful military in the world” — Juanitski Williams all puffed up now that Obama entered the fray.
On Special Report after Krauthammer comments on Rubio’s talking about must Obama always give our enemy a blow by blow of our intentions and actions. Me, paraphrasing Rubio. Above Jaunitski’s own words.
Last time I checked “military advisors” ARE “combat troops!”
Pingback: If Iran does not have nukes now, how long will it take to get them? | danmillerinpanama
Eisenhower sent the military advisers to Viet Nam. The problem is left for the next President either to up the ante or to pull them out. Kennedy started upping the ante, and then LBJ took off. We’ve been through that so no one should be naive this time.
“Naive” Yes JB, We, America, shouldn’t be, ever, again.
I remember watching JFK’s inaugural speech, on our b/w tv.
“We will bear any burden, pay any price”.
I could Google the exact quote, but I’d like use my foggy memory before I loose it, like the IRS lost e-mails.
America is not Atlas any longer, and the price of our shed blood is too expensive.
Just saying.
‘We’ are not naive Julie.
The CIC is.
Pull the troops out, and if they attack us, destroy them.
Tell them that they have 1 hour, that would be considerate.
And Obama’s suggesting “regime change” in Iraq? Oh ha,ha,ha. And he will develop strategies to deal in the long term with ISIS. That’s promising. Back in 2004, Obama. a state senator in Illinois, was invited by John Kerry to give the keynote speech at the Democratic Convention in Boston. He wowed the enormous crowd with an embroidered tale of his origins and good fortune, and assumed that giving a good speech was all that was necessary to ascend to the highest office in the land. At some point one would think he would have learned from experience that there was a little more to it. Regime change. Pot/kettle?
Comments are closed.