(Washington DC) – US President Barack Obama has said Iraq’s government must make a sincere effort to address sectarian differences, or else US military help won’t succeed in curbing the insurgency there. He said: “We can’t do it for them.” Obama said the US won’t send troops back into Iraq. But he said he’s asked his national security team to prepare a range of other options. He said he’ll review those options in the coming days.
Obama said the risk posed by terrorists in Iraq could eventually pose a threat to US interests, too. Obama spoke just before departing the White House en route to North Dakota.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric urged followers to take up arms against a full-blown militant insurgency to topple Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki, escalating a conflict that threatens civil war and a possible break-up of the country.
