Iraq–United States relations

Whatever else you may say about the “young war criminal” (as British journalist Alan Watkins used to call former prime minister Tony Blair), he certainly fights his corner with great determination. He is condemned to spend his life defending his part in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and last weekend he was at it again.

Iraq said it received the first batch of Sukhoi warplanes from Russia as it pressed a counter-attack June 29 against Sunni militants whose offensive threatens to tear the country apart.

Iraqi forces launched an airborne assault on rebel-held Tikrit on June 26 with commandos flown into a stadium in helicopters, at least one of which crashed after taking fire from insurgents who have seized northern cities.

Iraqi forces launched an airborne assault on rebel-held Tikrit on June 26 with commandos flown into a stadium in helicopters, at least one of which crashed after taking fire from insurgents who have seized northern cities.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend key NATO discussions on Iraq on June 25, the day after U.S. military advisers began moving into Baghdad as Iraqi forces battle Sunni militants.

Iraqi government troops held off Sunni insurgent attacks on a key town and an oil refinery Tuesday as Kerry pushed for unity in a conflict the UN says has killed nearly 1,100.

President Barack Obama pledged to take "precise" military action if needed to check marauding Sunni radicals in Iraq and offered up to 300 US advisors to train Iraqi forces facing a crisis splintering the country on sectarian lines.

US President Barack Obama could intervene in Iraq without seeking support from lawmakers, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said after Obama met Congress members.

In his words, the President "he didn't feel he had any need for authority" to take steps on the Islamist militants' advance in Iraq, as the BBC quoted McConnell as saying.

Baghdad asked Washington June 18 to carry out air strikes on militants who attacked Iraq's main oil refinery and seized more territory in the north, amid warnings the country's future was at stake.

The violence in Iraq is part of a broader Sunni Arab revolt that could lead to a holy war in the country, and is not just a rampage by Islamist militants from an al-Qaeda splinter group, fugitive vice president Tarek al-Hashemi told Reuters on June 16.

About 275 U.S. military personnel are being deployed to Iraq to help American personnel and protect the embassy in Baghdad, President Barack Obama said June 16 in a letter to Congressional leaders.

The force, which began deploying on June 14, has been sent "for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat," Obama wrote.