Obama to Make Statement About US Options in Iraq
President Barack Obama answers a reporter’s question about the death of Trayvon Martin, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, March 23, 2012.
U.S. President Barack Obama will speak about the deteriorating situation in Iraq from the White House Thursday afternoon.
Obama will appear in the White House briefing room at 1630 GMT following a meeting with his national security team where he is expected to discuss U.S. options for responding to the deteriorating situation in Iraq.
The president is facing rising pressure to respond to rampant advances by Sunni militant fighters in Iraq.
The administration has been weighing whether to press Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite, to step down in a last-ditch effort to prevent disgruntled Sunnis from igniting a civil war.
Obama is likely to bolster U.S. warnings that al-Maliki must drop what Washington sees as a sectarian approach to governing, which has worsened the situation in the country.
Military plans
However, Obama does not plan to announce immediate U.S. airstrikes on Iraq, which have increasingly become less of a focus of deliberations in recent days, the AP reported.
A U.S. official says Obama is expected to announce the deployment of about 100 special operations forces to Iraq to help train and advise the Iraqi forces. The official insisted on anonymity because this person was not authorized to publicly discuss the plan ahead of Obama’s announcement.
Also, a senior defense official told VOA that the U.S. military is ready, and has been ready, to direct any of several military options in Iraq.
The plans can be enacted once Obama gives his approval, said the senior defense official said.
The official said the military has held back, due to Iraq’s deteriorating internal political situation, adding that any military action must be supported by political actions and goals that would help deal with the crisis. (VOA)