Poll: Do You Agree With How President Obama is Handling Iraq?

by Brian Slupski

President Barack Obama announced that 300 military advisers would be sent to Iraq, but pledged that the U.S. would not be sending in ground troops.

Although Obama said that the U.S. would develop potential targets through intelligence, he said that military intervention was not the solution to the problem.

"The United States will not pursue military options that support one sect inside of Iraq at the expense of another," Obama said. "There is no military solution inside of Iraq, certainly not one that is led by the United States."

Obama emphasized that Iraq leaders had to solve Iraq's problems: "It's not the place of the United States to choose Iraq's leaders."

Obama also acknowledged that it is in the U.S. national security interests that Iraq not fall into an all out civil war. A civil war could destabilize the region, create a safe haven for extremists group and adversely impact issues such as energy by disrupting oil exports.

A video of Obama's comments on Iraq is attached to this post.

Iraq has been careening toward all out civil war as the militant group Islamic State is Iraq and Syria (ISIS) continues to gain territory in northern areas of the country. ISIS, formerly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, took control of Mosul earlier this month.

ISIS has been winning despite the fact its forces number about 7,000 compared to the Iraqi army's 250,000. One reason is that ISIS is a Sunni organization attacking predominantly Sunni areas, Vox.com reported.

ISIS has often taken control of Sunni areas where it enjoys more popular support with little to no fighting by the Iraqi military forces. But, it has, so far, stayed clear of Shia areas such as Baghdad where it likely would encounter stronger resistance from local militias. The dispute between the Shia and Sunni sects of Islam dates back 1,400 years and originated as a fight over the succession of leadership following the death of Muhammad.

Pew Research Center has a breakdown of Sunni and Shia populations in the the Middle East, estimating that Iraq is close to evenly split.