US secretary of state John Kerry arrived in Baghdad today as he began a tour of the Middle East to build military, political and financial support to defeat Islamic State (IS) militants controlling parts of Iraq and Syria.
Mr Kerry on Monday had hailed the formation of a new, more inclusive, Iraqi government under prime minister Haider al-Abadi as a “major milestone“, and Washington had said it was vital before there could be further US action to help push back the militants, who took over large parts of northern Iraq this year.
Mr Kerry flew to Baghdad from Jordan, the first stop on his tour, which will also include Saudi Arabia and probably other Arab capitals.
Last week nine countries, most of them in Europe, were named as the core group of a coalition US president Barack Obama says will degrade and eventually destroy Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in the land it took over and executed many prisoners, including two American journalists who were beheaded.
In Washington, Mr Obama will give a speech on Wednesday in which he will detail his plan to confront the radicals, which could take several years.
Mr bama told leaders of Congress last night that he did not need for them to authorise his strategy to fight Islamic State (IS), ahead of a speech to Americans that may herald expanded operations against the group in Iraq and perhaps Syria.
Mr Obama’s speech will be his most significant effort to outline a strategy against a group whose savage methods have included the beheading of two American captives.
Mr Obama met Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrats in the US Senate and House of Representatives, and Republican counterparts Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, to discuss the next phase of his campaign.
"The president told the leaders that he has the authority he needs to take action against ISIL in accordance with the mission he will lay out in his address tomorrow night," the White House said in a statement, using an acronym for Islamic State.
The 1973 War Powers Resolution requires that the president consult Congress before introducing US armed forces into hostilities but allows them to remain for 60 days before he has to obtain Congress’ approval for action.
Elected in 2008 on a promise to get US troops out of Iraq, Mr Obama has been limiting military operations to protecting minority Iraqi Yazidis and attacking Islamic State positions near the Kurdish capital Arbil and around the Mosul and Haditha dams.
He has the option of ordering airstrikes on an expanded list of targets within Iraq and has been considering strikes in Syria as well, on condition that moderate rebels be in a position to hold territory cleared of Islamic State fighters by the strikes.
Mr Obama said in an interview with NBC broadcast on Sunday that the United States would hit the militant leaders wherever it could.
A Washington Post-ABC News opinion poll on Tuesday said 71 per cent of Americans support airstrikes in Iraq and 65 per cent support using them in Syria. It found Obama's approval rating was at near-record lows, with only 43 per cent saying he is a strong leader.
Iraq’s formation on Monday of a unity government involving disenfranchised Sunni and Kurdish minorities met US demands and cleared the way for increased American military assistance, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
Policymakers in recent weeks have called Islamic State a threat to the US homeland out of concern that foreign fighters who have sworn allegiance to the group, including some Americans, could return home to attack civilians.
In the White House meeting, speaker of the House Mr Boehner expressed support for options Mr Obama has proposed including “increasing the effectiveness of the Iraqi Security Forces” and equipping some groups in the Syrian opposition, an aide said.
“The Speaker made it clear that ISIL (Islamic State) is preparing to fight us, and that as we learned in Syria, the longer we wait, the more difficult our choices become,” the aide said.
Mr Obama will pledge that large numbers of US ground forces will not be deployed. The United States has more than 800 military personnel in Iraq to provide protection for American embassy personnel and serve as forward spotters for airstrikes.
Mr Obama ran for president by declaring he would end the Iraq war begun by President George W. Bush and the last combat troops were pulled out in 2011.
Mr Obama is tying deeper US military involvement to creating an international coalition so that the United States does not act alone. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Saudi Arabia and Jordan this week seeking active support from Arab states.
Mr Obama has been harshly criticised by Republicans and even some Democrats for what they call a tentative response to the Islamic State challenge. In late August he said “we don’t have a strategy yet” for tackling Islamic State in Syria.
House Republicans invited former vice-president Dick Cheney, a Republican and an Obama critic, to address their weekly caucus meeting on Tuesday. Attendees said Mr Cheney, an architect of the 2003 Iraq invasion, blamed Mr Obama for international instability.
Reuters