Obama goes golfing during Palm Springs vacation as Iraq descends into chaos

Over the weekend the violence in Iraq reached a tipping point, forcing the State Department opted to evacuate some some of it's staff and put in a request for military assistance

Islamic extremists continued ransacking Iraq and executing civilians and Iraqi troops as they battled their way to Baghdad



President Obama left National Security Adviser Susan Rice and her team in charge of monitoring the situation and coming up with an appropriate solution while he went on vacation

Obama spent Saturday afternoon and a large part of Sunday at posh golf courses in Palm Springs, California

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the president called to check in with Rice at the start and end of his days

President Barack Obama spent last weekend on the golf course and on vacation in Palm Springs, California while his National Security team took charge of monitoring the increasing unrest in Iraq, it was revealed on Monday.



According to reports filed by journalists on the trip of the president's comings and goings, President Barack Obama spent Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday at exclusive resorts playing golf with White House aides.

Mean while , National Security Advis er Susan Ric e and her team w ere tasked with coming up with a plan to stop al Qaeda linked terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from overtaking Baghadad.



Some U.S. embassy workers were also evacuated from Iraq on Sunday wh ile the president was out golfing.



President Obama also gave the University of California-Irvine commencement address during his trip to California. Here is screaming the student chant 'Zot, Zot, Zot,' as he makes the symbols of the Anteater, the school's mascot

White House spokesman Josh Earnest assured reporters in a series of statements over the weekend that president Obama was calling Rice every evening and every morning during his trip to get an update on the ongoing bloodshed in a Iraq and the measures the U.S. could take to counter the Islamic extremist group's violent ascension to power.



'The President asked her to continue to stay in close touch and provide additional information as necessary,' Earnest said in statement on Sunday.

President Barack Obama, greets members of the military at before leaving Los Alamitos, California, to head back to Palm Springs on Saturday

The president briefly met with the troops at their families before jetting back to Palm Springs

On Friday evening President Obama traveled to Palm Springs, California, with First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughter Malia for a Father’s Day weekend getaway.

The first family stayed at a private residence in the gated community of Thunderbird Heights in Rancho Mirage with White House decorator Michael Smith and his partner, James Costos, the American ambassador to Spain, during their three-day stay.



Early Saturday morning President Obama left Palm Springs to make a short side trip to Laguna Beach to appear at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser, where 25 of the president’s supporters donated up to $32,400 a piece to participate in a hour-long meet and greet with Obama.

Obama then gave the commencement speech for the University of California-Irvine at Angel Stadium before returning to Palm Springs by way of Los Alamitos Army Airfield in Los Alamitos, California.

There he spent a few minutes meeting with locally stationed troops and their families before jetting back to Palm Springs to play golf at the Sunnylands estate with White House aides Joe Paulsen and Marvin Nicholson.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wave to people gathered on the tarmac, as they depart Air Force One at the Palm Springs International Airport in Palm Springs, California on Friday

The first couple was greeted on the tarmac by California Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., second from left, and her husband Stewart Boxer, left

Obama again went golfing on Sunday, Father's Day, with Nicholson and Paulsen at the 246-acre Porcupine Creek Estate.



The president and his crew spent five hours on the golf course before retiring back to Rancho Mirage on Sunday afternoon.

The President's holiday was met with indignation by Republicans who felt his attention ought to be on keeping Iraq from falling into the wrong hands.



'Well, this is a crisis. It does call for a response, not going to Palm Springs for a fundraiser, House Homeland Security committee chair Mike McCaul said Sunday morning on ABC News.

'I am glad Obama likes Palm Springs,' former California Rep. Mary Bono Mack tweeted. 'Just wish he would enjoy it after he retires but stay focused now on the perils in the Middle East.'

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham called Obama 'delusional' and 'detached' for not taking the situation in Iraq seriously enough.

'If Baghdad falls, if the central government falls, a disaster awaits us of monumental proportions,' he said.

As of Monday morning ISIL had not taken Baghdad, but it had conquered the northwestern Iraqi city of Tel Afar.

President Barack Obama is taking flak for spending his weekend out on the links instead of figuring out how to save Iraq from destruction. There are no pictures available of his golf outings on Saturday and Sunday, but here is a picture of the president playing golf at the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course earlier this year while on vacation in Hawaii

Concern over the rising tide of violence in Iraq reached a tipping point on Sunday afternoon, and the State Department announced that it was relocating some of its staff stationed at the U.S. embassy in Iraq.

'Overall, a substantial majority of the US embassy presence in Iraq will remain in place and the embassy will be fully equipped to carry out its national security mission,' State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Pentagon press secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby, said on Sunday that the State Department had called on the military to provide additional security at the U.S.'s diplomatic facilities in Baghdad.



On Saturday, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel dispatched an aircraft carrier and two ships carrying missiles to the Persian Gulf region.

President Obama said on Friday that the U.S. was considering an airstrike on militant groups, but he had not yet made a decision at that time on whether or not he intended to proceed with military action.