OBAMA enggan MENGHANTAR pasukan TENTERANYA ke IRAQ, tetapi tidak akan menolak Serangan UDARA . . .

Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Barack Obama menyampaikan kenyataan mengenai keadaan di Iraq, sebelum berangkat White House South Lawn di Washington, 13 Jun 2014 (U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a statement on the situation in Iraq, prior to departing the White House South Lawn in Washington, June 13, 2014 (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Srikandi גבורה - Amerika Syarikat mungkin mula menyediakan bantuan ketenteraan kepada kerajaan Iraq dalam masa beberapa hari, Presiden Barack Obama berkata Jumaat, sebagai pelampau terus merampas bandar-bandar utama terdapat di tengah-tengah kempen ganas menggiatkan pemberontakan.

Bercakap di luar White House, Presiden itu berkata beliau telah membincangkan krisis di Iraq dengan Majlis Keselamatan Negara beliau awal hari dan tidak lama lagi akan mendedahkan apakah tindakan, jika ada, Amerika Syarikat akan mengambil berhu-bung dengan keadaannya.

Sehari sebelumnya, beliau menjawab soalan mengenai krisis di sana degn mengatakan pentadbirannya adalah "bersedia untuk mengambil tindakan ketenteraan apabila keselamatan negara kami terancam."

Berat dalam Washington, DC pada hari Jumaat di kira-kira 12 tengah hari, presiden itu berkata beliau telah ditugaskan pasukan keselamatan negara dengan menyediakan pelbagai pilihan untuk dipersembahkan kepada beliau pada hari-hari yang akan datang.

"Kami tdk akan menghantar tentera Amerika Syarikat kembali ke dlm pertempuran di Iraq," kata Obama, selepas hari sebelumnya mengakui bahawa Baghdad tlh meminta Washington untuk mempertimbangkan melancarkan serangan udara pada sasaran yang berkaitan dengan kumpulan pengganas yang telah mendatangkan malapetaka terdapat di hari baru-baru ini.

"Adakah tidak akan membenarkan diri kita diseret kembali ke dalam situasi" serupa dengan apa yang berlaku kali terakhir tentera Amerika Syarikat menjadi terlibat di Iraq, katanya.

Jika Amerika Syarikat tidak membuktikan bantuan ketenteraan, bagaimanapun, Obama berkata beliau harapkan kerajaan Iraq untuk memainkan peranan untuk mencuba dan membawa kestabilan ke rantau ini.

"Tindakan ketenteraan jangka pendek, termasuk apa-apa bantuan yang kita mungkin memberikan, tidak akan berjaya," kata Obama Jumaat, melainkan jika kerajaan Iraq mengejar laluan diplomatik.

"Amerika Syarikat tidak hanya akan melibatkan dirinya dalam tindakan ketenteraan jika tiada pelan politik dengan rakyat Iraq yang memberikan kita beberapa jaminan bahawa mereka bersedia untuk bekerja bersama-sama," katanya.

"Ini seharusnya menjadi ‘wake-up call’: pemimpin Iraq perlu menunjukkan kesediaan untuk membuat keputusan yang sukar dan kompromi bagi pihak rakyat Iraq untuk membawa negara ini bersama-sama," kata Obama. "Dalam usaha itu, mereka akan mendapat sokongan dari Amerika Syarikat dan sekutu kami."

Satu kebimbangan utama, katanya, adalah bahawa Negara Islam Iraq dan militan Levant yang terkemuka pemberontakan yang mungkin menimbulkan risiko langsung kepada kepentingan Amerika di luar negara dan di rumah.

"Kami mempunyai kepentingan dalam memastikan bahawa kumpulan seperti ISIL, yang merupakan organisasi ganas dan telah dapat mengambil kesempatan daripada keadaan huru-hara di Syria, yang mereka tidak dapat bertapak yang lebih luas," katanya.

"Kami akan berunding rapat dengan Kongres membuat keputusan mengenai tindakan yang sesuai dan kami akan terus memastikan rakyat Amerika dimaklumkan sepenuh-nya," tambah presiden.

OBAMA refuses to Send troops to IRAQ, but 

Won’t rule out Air STRIKES. . .

The United States may begin providing military assistance to the Iraqi government within days, President Barack Obama said Friday, as extremists continue to seize major cities there in the midst of an intensifying violent campaign of insurgency.

Speaking outside of the White House, the president said he has discussed the crisis in Iraq with his National Security Council earlier in the day and will soon reveal what action, if any, the US will take with regards to the situation. A day earlier, he answered a question about the crisis there by saying his administration is “prepared to take military action whenever our national security is threatened.”

Weighing in from Washington, DC on Friday at around 12 noon, the president said he has tasked his national security team with preparing a range of options to be presented to him in the coming days.

“We will not be sending US troops back into combat in Iraq,” Obama said, after a day earlier acknowledging that Baghdad has asked Washington to consider launching air attacks at targets pertaining to the terrorist groups who have wreaked havoc there in recent days. “Were not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation” similar to what happened the last time the US military became involved in Iraq, he said.

If the US does prove military assistance, however, Obama said that he’d expect the Iraqi government to do its part to try and bring stability to the region.

“Short term military action, including any assistance we might provide, won’t succeed,” Obama said Friday, unless the Iraqi government pursues a diplomatic route.

“The United States is not simply going to involve itself in a military action in the absence of a political plan by the Iraqis that gives us some assurance that they’re prepared to work together,” he said.

“This should be a wake-up call: Iraq’s leaders have to demonstrate a willingness to make hard decisions and compromises on behalf of the Iraqi people in order to bring the country together,” Obama said. “In that effort, they will have the support of the United States and our allies.”

A major concern, he added, is that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants who are leading that revolt may pose a direct risk to American interests abroad and at home.

“We have an interest in making sure that a group like ISIL, which is a vicious organization and has been able to take advantage of the chaos in Syria, that they don’t get a broader foothold,” he said.

“We will consult closely with Congress as make determinations about appropriate action and we will continue to keep the American people fully informed,” the president added.

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