Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration

Washington is providing reconnaissance support for Iraqi forces fighting to retake Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an official said March 24, the first confirmation of American involvement in the operation.
      

Balkan nations contribute to anti-ISIL coalition

On March 9, Iraqi Shiite militias intensified their attack against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant?s (ISIL) positions around Tikrit, around 150 kilometers north of Baghdad, to save Saddam Hussein?s hometown from the hands of jihadists.

Barack Obama pilloried Republicans on March 9 over an incendiary letter to Iran's leaders that warned a nuclear deal with the United States could be scrapped by the next president.
      

Two cargo planes carrying Turkish military aid to Iraqi soldiers arrived in Baghdad on March 3, a Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News, stressing that the assistance includes non-lethal military equipment aid for 500 soldiers of the central government.

The United States will be ready to "protect" moderate Syrian rebels possibly with air power once they enter into combat, a top US official said March 2.
     

The United Arab Emirates on Feb. 10 launched air strikes from Jordan against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as an important Arab ally in the US-led anti-ISIL coalition returned to combat operations.
      

A top US envoy said Iraqi troops would begin a major ground offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the coming weeks, as a suicide bomber killed 14 people in Baghdad Feb. 9.

The United States will send 400 troops to train moderate Syrian rebels this spring. Pentagon spokesman Maj. James Brindle confirmed the planned deployment early Jan. 16 morning. The U.S. plan was first reported by Defense One Jan. 15.

The U.S. military has made progress in its effort to identify moderate Syrian rebels to train for the fight against Islamic State militants and a U.S. training mission could begin this spring, the Pentagon said on Jan. 7.