President Barack Obama said Thursday that Iraq is “going to need more help” from the US to fight back a militant group that has already taken over two cities and vowed to march on to Baghdad.
“What we’ve seen in the last couple of days indicates the degree to which Iraq’s going to need more help,” Obama said following a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the White House. “It’s going to need more help from us and it’s going to need more help from the international community.”
Obama said that his administration has been working closely with the Iraqi government over the past several months, at times providing military equipment or intelligence assistance. He wouldn’t rule out any options in addressing the Iraqi insurgency, he added.
“We do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria for that matter,” he said.
