Obama rules OUT sending troops back into combat in Iraq but promises to review military options – including air strikes

Former President George W. Bush's office says he won't weigh in, telling MailOnline that he has 'decided not to criticize his successor'

Obama said Friday that ground forces are off the table but his national security team will present him with other options 'in the days ahead'



Republicans in Congress insist that waiting shouldn't be an option: 'We need to be hitting these columns of terrorists marching on Baghdad with drones now'



A senior Air Force official in Afghanistan said air bases there and across the Middle East expect 'contingency plans' in the next 72 hours

Obama could have airstrikes underway in 24 hours, according to one retired general

The president is traveling to North Dakota for a Sioux tribal event, and his national security adviser is not with him



His authorization from Congress for military force in Iraq has never expired, so he could legally do it without approval from Capitol Hill

American surveillance drones have already been flying over Iraq for weeks



Iraqi army units have been overrun by ISIS in Mosul and Tikrit, but gov't forces have held them in check for now without surrendering Baghdad

Barack Obama said Friday that his national security team will soon provide him with a list of 'selective actions by our military' to help push back a terrorist horde marching through Iraq, but insisted that 'we will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat' there.

He will be 'reviewing options in the days ahead,' the U.S. president said in a hastily scheduled statement on the South Lawn of the White House, before boarding Marine One en route to Bismarck, North Dakota.

The murderous Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), formerly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, 'poses a danger to Iraq and its people,' Obama said, 'and given the nature of these terrorists, it could pose a threat to America and its interests as well.'

But he emphasized that Iraq's government should 'solve their own problems.'

The United States, Obama insisted, will not get involved in a protracted military campaign in the absence of work toward a political solution in the nation that Saddam Hussein once ruled with an iron fist.

Former President George W. Bush, his predecessor who sent U.S. servicemen and women into Iraq by the tens of thousands, is determined to hold his tongue.



Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, is not traveling with him to North Dakota, Deputy Press Secretary Joshua Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One.



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President Barack Obama said he expected Iraq's government to solve its own problems and insisted that he won't send ground troops back there, but left the door wide open for air strikes against ISIS Obama, the president who has said he was elected 'to end wars, not to start them,' could be locked within days into a position of using airstrikes to give Iraq's government the upper hand On the warpath to Baghdad: A graphic showing the town and cities captured by ISIS over the last few days Marauders: Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) celebrate on American vehicles taken from Iraqi security forces along a street in the city of Mosul, which they now occupy

Earnest said that military options under consideration 'do not include ... putting combat boots on the ground in Iraq.'

They also exclude, he added, a Bush-style open-ended military commitment on behalf of the United States.'

Instead, the White House is conditioning 'any commitment of military resources or a military operation' on an agreement from Iraqi leaders to commit 'to pursue an inclusive, political agenda' with Sunni Islamists who are terrorizing their cities.



Former President George W. Bush has been reluctant to weigh in on the latest developments in the region where he spent years deploying military assets that Obama would later pull back.

A request for comment from the former president was met with a non-response from his communications director Freddy Ford, who told MailOnline: 'I don’t have a comment for you. When he left office President Bush decided not to criticize his successor.'

Meanwhile, a senior Air Force official in Afghanistan told MailOnline on Friday that his forces, along with others in the Middle East, have been told to expect briefings on contingency plans in the next 72 hours.

Those contingency plans could include a wide range of military and nonmilitary options, he cautioned, but said he expects that anything the president might order would focus principally on air bases closer to the Persian Gulf.

The prospect of U.S. forces as far away as Kabul being put on alert, however, lends credence to an all-hands-on-deck airstrike scenario designed to cripple ISIS's forces.



On Friday morning Obama defended the amount the U.S. has spent training and equipping Iraqi forces, and expressed his disappointment that it did not always translate to firm action in the face of terrorist Islamists.

'The fact that they are not willing to stand and fight and defend their posts against admittedly hardened terrorists, but not terrorists who are overwhelming in numbers, indicates that there is a problem with morale, a problem in terms of commitment, and ultimately that is rooted in the political problems that have plagued the country for a very long time,' Obama said.

He added that further military intervention would be contingent on Iraqi diplomacy, calling for a 'serious and sincere effort by Iraq's leaders to set aside sectarian differences.'

'We can't do it for them,' Obama said. 'And in the absence of this type of political effort, short-term military action, including any assistance we might provide, won't succeed.'



ISIS has been cutting a bloody swath through northern Iraq, marked by beheadings and crucifixions, on its way to a hoped-for takeover of Baghdad.

Obama already has the legal and constitutional authority to re-enter the Iraqi military theater, according to Roll Call.

That's because a 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, which Congress gave to former President George W. Bush, has never been repealed.

Obama has argued in the past that it should be repealed.



Crazed: Jihadists are carrying out summary executions on civilians, soldiers and police officers including this police major -- shown shortly before he was beheaded -- after taking control of large swaths of Iraq

Ill-gotten gains: This tweeted picture apparently shows ISIS commander Skeikh Umar Al Shishani inspecting an American Humvee that his forces captured from an Iraqi army unit 'The Administration supports the repeal of the Iraq AUMF,' national security spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told Yahoo News in January.

Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and a likely suitor to succeed Obama in 2016, voted in favor of the measure while she served in the U.S. Senate. One Senate Republican said Friday that he blames the 2011 U.S. troop withdrawal for the situation Obama finds himself in, and expects the White House to come back to Congress before it launches anything.

'The world is now witnessing in real time the results of our president allowing politics to dictate his military decisions and not the advice of military commanders on the ground,' said Texas Sen. John Cornyn. 'I pray that for the sake of so many Texans and Americans who gave their lives in Iraq, the president will present a decisive plan to Congress immediately. The people of Iraq and our allies in the region do not have time for a wait-and-see approach from President Obama, and neither do the American people.' California GOP Rep. Ed Royce, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, blasted Obama for waiting. 'The president and his team need to be acting urgently – not "reviewing options in the days ahead",' Royce said in a statement. 'This threat has been growing for months, and Iraqis have been asking for assistance to attack these terrorist camps through drone strikes, which have been denied.' 'Why has the Obama Administration been taken off guard?' he asked. 'We shouldn’t have boots on the ground, but we need to be hitting these columns of terrorists marching on Baghdad with drones now.' The italicized 'urgently' and 'now' were included in Royce's emailed statement, an unusual move for a member of Congress.

Options, options, options: The United States is capable of blanketing the Iraqi skies with contrails, but Obama is still awaiting a set of military options from his advisers

Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, claimed moments later that the advance of ISIS and 'their ability to gain control as quickly as they have is a direct result of President Obama's foreign policy failure and his inability to secure a Status of Forces agreement which led to the premature removal of U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011.'

'We are now seeing the fruits of a short-sighted foreign policy that reacts to the politics of the hour rather than facts on the ground,' Inhofe added in a press statement.

Tennessee Sen.Bob Corker, another Republican, said Friday afternoon that the Obama administration, 'working with Congress, should then try to stop the bleeding in Iraq by providing the appropriate air assistance.'

Current Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday in London that 'given the gravity of the situation, I would anticipate timely decisions from the president regarding the challenge' in Iraq.

'We have already taken some immediate steps,' he said, 'including providing enhanced aerial surveillance support to assist the Iraqis in this fight. We have also ramped up shipments of military aid to Iraq since the beginning of the year.'

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that drone flights over Iraq were approved by the government there, and that information gathered was shared with the Iraqi.



'It's not like it did any good,' an official told the Journal, however, saying that the U.S> was caught flat-footed when ISIS started to advance and capture entire cities.

The United States could easily launch airstrikes against terror targets inside Iraq within a day's time if President Obama decided to move in that direction, according to a retired Air Force general.

'If you can provide me with the appropriate intelligence we can start doing [air strikes] within 24 hours,' said retired Lieutenant Gen. David Deptula.

The former Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence spoke to The Daily Beast, adding that while the U.S. could attack from several bases outside of Iraq, it would be better logistically to secure takeoff and landing rights on a base inside the country's borders.

The Obama administration pulled American forces out of Iraq at the end of 2011, in part because United States diplomats failed to close the deal on a Status of Forces agreement that could have provided a legal framework to keep some American troops in place to keep the peace.

Any such deal would also have included a way for the U.S. and its aircraft to remain on a military base there.

President Obama convened an Oval Office meeting with his national security team to discuss the situation in Iraq on Friday

Priorities: Obama left the Iraq situation on the desks of his national security advisers while he took off to North Dakota for an event with Sioux tribal leaders, along with first lady Michelle Obama (2nd L)

'The United States should have been provided basing rights,' Deptula said. 'If we are going to assist the Maliki government it needs to be provided inside of Iraq; we should not be doing this from outside.' As it stands, however, Obama's operational choices would be limited to launches from bases outside Iraq's borders. Among them are Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which already houses command and logistics hubs for U.S. Central Command and was ground zero for air sorties over Afghanistan and Iraq since the early days of the Geroge W. Bush administration. The Daily Beast reported that Al-Udeid 'is still used for some air missions over Afghanistan and houses B1-bombers, a long range aircraft that can deliver up to 48,000 pounds of bombs' on a single flight.

Closer to Iraq's northern provinces is an American air base in Incirlik, Turkey. After 2011, that facility inherited much of the airborne surveillance hardware – including drones – that the U.S. once launched from bases inside Iraq. In addition, the U.S. commands a detachment of F-16 fighters in Jordan, where it has 2,000 troops based, according to a Pentagon official.

And the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet is home to two aircraft carriers, the USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln, each of which can be outfitted to carry as many as 130 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets. They typically carry 64 aircraft, even in peacetime, including EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, E-2 Hawkeye surveillance planes and SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk helicopters. Taking no prisoners: A man is executed by ISIS fighters as the Al-Qaeda-linked militants continue their march towards Baghdad

The US is armed to the teeth in the Middle East: What are the options? The United States has about 35,000 troops deployed in the Middle East, according to a Pentagon official, including bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

If the Iraqi government were to persuade President Obama to intervene militarily, the options would include a variety of air and sea deployments along with ground troops and Special Forces.

AIR STRIKES

The American-controlled Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar houses command and logistics hubs for U.S. Central Command and is used for air missions over Afghanistan. It houses long-range B1-bombers that can deliver up to 48,000 pounds of bombs on a single flight.

The American air base in Incirlik, Turkey is also in play, but mostly for surveillance missions. Much of the airborne surveillance hardware – including drones and other flying sensors – that the U.S. once launched from bases inside Iraq now lives there.

The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet includes about 1,000 servicemen and women on land in Bahrain, and about 15,000 deployed at sea on a rotating roster of about 20 ships.

Two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln, patrol the Persian Gulf region and the northern Indian Ocean.

Shock and awe: The US has an air base with F-16 Falcons that were used to hit ground targets in the Iraq War Each can hold a maximum of 130 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets, or 90 mixed aircraft. Typically, the carriers are outfitted with 64 aircraft each.

Those also include Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye surveillance aircraft and Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.

Strategic air strikes could serve to slow down the ISIS's advance toward Baghdad, cut off supply routes and cripple jihadi groups enough to give Iraqi ground troops the upper hand.

MISSILE ATTACKS

The Fifth Fleet also includes a rotating handful of nuclear-powered Ohio-class submarines.

The U.S. Navy has 18 of these underwater killing machines, including 14 that carry Trident ballistic missiles and four that carry Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles.

Each Tomahawk-equipped sub can hold 154 missiles, all with long enough range (about 620 miles) to reach from Kuwait Bay all the way to Tikrit and Mosul.

Firepower: The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is stationed in the Persian Gulf and can be called on to launch fighter jet sorties to the north While it's unlikely the ballistic missiles would come into play, cruise missiles - launched from subs or some of the 20 ships usually deployed with the fleet could be launched against terrorist training camps, specific urban buildings, air defense batteries or other 'hard targets.'

The United States has a global stockpile of about 3,500 Tomahawk missiles with an estimated value of $2.6 billion. It has also sold part of its supply to Great Britain.

DRONE STRIKES

The U.S. has a massive arsenal of MQ-18 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones, capable of delivering Hellfire missiles more than 1,100 miles away.

The Reaper drones can also deliver 500-pound bomb payloads.

The 'unmanned aerial vehicles' are controlled from a land or ship base.

According to public sources, America has 172 Predator drones and 97 Reapers. Any one of them could be launched to eliminate terror leaders, including the warlords at the tip of the ISIL spear.

They are typically used by the U.S. Air Force and CIA to decimate enemy bases of operations and eliminate specific terrorist targets – including training camps and individual combatants.

Once a terrorist fighting force is 'decapitated' by the death of a senior leader, troops often fall into disarray and are more easily captured or turned back.

SPECIAL FORCES

The wild card: Special Operators including Navy SEALS and Army Rangers may already be in Iraq, according to one Capitol Hill aide, but the White House isn't saying.

These specialized commando units were sent back into Iraq as recently as 2012 to help with counter-terrorism missions, even though the regular American military had evacuated months earlier.

The U.S. could deploy them by air, land or sea, using them for specialized missions including 'capture or kill' assignments, 'exfiltration' rescues, counter-terrorism and guerilla warfare operations that demand a low profile.

GRIM: U.S. MQ-9 'Reaper' drones can delivering Hellfire missiles more than 1,100 miles away, or drop 500-pound bomb payloads BOOTS ON THE GROUND

The least likely of all scenarios would have the U.S. re-entering the Iraq battle theatre, most likely with troops deployed from Kuwait where 10,000 are already based.

Such a move would raise serious questions about the wisdom of the Obama administration's 2009-2011 pullout of forces from Iraq, a move that critics say created a power vacuum that al-Qaeda-linked groups are now filling.

WAR MATERIEL

The White House will continue to provide the Iraqi military with bombs, missiles, guns and ammunition.

Already the U.S. has sent '300 Hellfire missiles, millions of rounds of small arms fire, thousands of rounds of tank ammunition, helicopter-fired rockets, machine guns, grenades, flares, sniper rifles, M16s and M4 rifles,' according to the White House.

And a Pentagon source told MailOnline that the U.S. expected to speed up a planned transfer of Apache helicopters, a sale that was put on the back burner after Iraq made a large purchase of guns and ammunition from neighboring Iran.

