Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday promised ‘intense and sustained’ U.S. support for Iraq, but said the divided country would only survive if its leaders took urgent steps to bring it together. Hours before Kerry arrived in Baghdad, Sunni tribes who have joined a militant takeover of northern Iraq seized the only legal crossing point with Jordan, security sources said, leaving troops with no presence along the entire western frontier which includes some of the Middle East's most important trade routes. U.S. President Barack Obama has offered up to 300 American advisers to Iraq but held off granting a request by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite Muslim-led government for air strikes to counter the two-week advance by Sunni militants.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry promised 'intense and sustained' U.S. support for Iraq on Monday
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He was in Iraq meeting Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to deliver the Obama administration's message that Iraqis must come together in order to save their country
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President Barack Obama is so far continuing to stand firm on his decision not to deploy combat troops to Iraq
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The country's problems can't be solved by military might alone, he said, in interview that aired on CNN, CBS and MSNBC on Monday morning
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'There's no amount of American fire power that's gonna be able to hold the country together,' Obama told CNN
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A new poll shows that more Americans than not believe the U.S. is under no obligation to give Iraq military assistance
The two government officials didn't appear to be on very friendly terms at a photo-op, but @placeholder said the 100 minute meeting went well
Kerry said: ‘Iraq faces an existential threat and @placeholder's leaders have to beat that threat with the incredible urgency that it demands.