President Barack Obama will meet with the top four congressional leaders — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the deteriorating situation in Iraq.
“I’m anxious to see what plan he may have,” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday, saying the growing violence in Iraq casts doubt on Obama’s decision to “leave Afghanistan entirely.”
Asked what the president ought to do about the Sunni insurgency the radical group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, both McConnell and his deputy, Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), punted and placed the onus on Obama.
The president has resisted sending U.S. military forces to fight the insurgency but announced Tuesday he’ll deploy 275 troops to protect American diplomatic interests in Iraq.