Obama rules...
“The United States will not involve itself in military action in the absence of a political plan by the Iraqis that gives us some assurance that they're prepared to work together,” Obama said.
“We won't allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which while we're there we're keeping a lid on things and, after enormous sacrifices by us, as soon as we're not there, suddenly people end up acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability of the country.” “Any action that we may take to provide assistance to Iraqi security forces has to be joined by a serious and sincere effort by Iraq's leaders to set aside sectarian differences.” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby declined to say what kind of response was being prepared.
He confirmed that the US aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and its strike group were in the region and ready to act. The US navy said the carrier group was in the Arabian Sea.
Kirby also said the US military had stepped up intelligence sharing with Iraq “in recent days at the request of the Iraqi government.” US officials blamed Iraqi leaders for failing to strengthen and support the nation's military after US troops withdrew despite billions of American dollars poured into training and equipping the army.
State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf dismissed criticism from Republi- can lawmakers that a residual US force would have stopped the Iraqi army from collapsing.
“When we left Iraq, after years of sacrifice and American taxpayer money, and certainly our troops felt that sacrifice more than anyone, the Iraqis had an opportunity,” Harf told reporters.
“We had helped their security forces. We had helped their army,” she insisted.
“We had gotten them on their feet and helped build their capacity, and quite frankly, they did not take advantage of that opportunity.” Instead, Iraqi leaders “created a climate where there were vulnerabilities when it came to the cohesion of the Iraqi army,” Harf said. Iran pledges support President Hassan Rouhani of Shiite Iran, which borders Iraq, pledged his government's full support against “terrorism”.
Despite their differences, Tehran and Washington are united in their determination to prevent Iraq following its western neighbour Syria into civil war.
But Washington said it had not begun talks on Iraq with Tehran.
In an interview Friday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari likened the performance of security forces during the militant offensive to the collapse of Sunni Arab leader Saddam Hussein's army in 2003.
However, the interior ministry said it had adopted a new security plan for Baghdad.
Technicians said the communications ministry had blocked access to social media websites, among them YouTube, Facebook and micro-blogging site Twitter.
Militants were gathering for a new attempt to take Samarra, just 110 kilometres (70 miles) north of Baghdad and home to a revered Shiite shrine whose 2006 bombing sparked a deadly sectarian war.
The militants, who have taken a huge swathe of predominantly Sunni Arab territory in northern and north- central Iraq since launching their offensive in Mosul Monday, have pressed south into ethnically divided Diyala province.
On Friday, they battled pro- government forces near Muqdadiyah, just 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Baghdad's city limits. Kurdish forces move in Forces from the autonomous Kurdish region, meanwhile, took control of territory they have sought to rule for decades against the objections of successive governments in Baghdad.
It has been the fulfilment of a decades- old Kurdish ambition to expand their autonomous region in the north to incorporate historically Kurdish-majority territory across northern and north- central Iraq.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay condemned reports of summary executions by ISIL.
The UN said it had received reports of women committing suicide after being raped or forced to marry ISIL fighters and the summary execution of people believed to have worked for the police.
The International Organisation for Migration estimated that 40,000 people have fled Tikrit and Samarra, adding to half a million people believed to have fled Mosul.