--- title: Obama on Iraq: 'I Don't Rule Out Anything' description: President Barack Obama said he would not rule out military intervention to support the Iraqi government against advancing Sunni militants. canonical: https://time.com/2865250/obama-iraq-airstrikes/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-12T17:18:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:22.430Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama on Iraq: 'I Don't Rule Out Anything' og:description: President Barack Obama said he would not rule out military intervention to support the Iraqi government against advancing Sunni militants. og:url: https://time.com/2865250/obama-iraq-airstrikes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama on Iraq: 'I Don't Rule Out Anything' twitter:description: President Barack Obama said he would not rule out military intervention to support the Iraqi government against advancing Sunni militants. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Obama on Iraq: 'I Don't Rule Out Anything' as Militants Aim for Baghdad > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Iraq: Tikrit Falls to Islamist Militant Group [Watch (HLS stream): Iraq: Tikrit Falls to Islamist Militant Group](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ja43HCOR.m3u8) (2:03)  _Published 2014-06-12. Iraq: Tikrit Falls to Islamist Militant Group_ by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/) and [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) Jun 12, 2014 5:18 PM UTC by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/) and [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) Jun 12, 2014 5:18 PM UTC President Barack Obama said he would not rule out military intervention to support Iraq’s government against advancing Sunni militants, two and a half years after the U.S. withdrew its last troops from the country. “I don’t rule out anything,” Obama told reporters at the White House after meeting with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott after being asked a question about the possibility the U.S. would conduct airstrikes in Iraq to support the government there. “We do have a stake in making sure these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria,” Obama added. Obama said that is was “fair to say that in our consultations with the Iraqis there will be some short-term immediate things that need to be done militarily and our national security team is looking into all the options.” However, a senior administration official said Obama is not considering putting U.S. boots on the ground once again in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has [expressed a willingness](http://time.com/2862759/iraq-insurgent-isis-baghdad-air-strikes/) to allow the U.S. to conduct airstrikes on the extremists, who have over the past week seized Iraq’s second largest city, the country’s largest oil refinery and the city of Tikrit, the home of former leader Saddam Hussein. Fighting between Iraqi forces and advancing fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other Islamic fundamentalist groups, who spilled over from neighboring war-torn Syria, has already displaced more than 500,000 Iraqis. “This should also be a wakeup call for the Iraqi government,” Obama said. “There has to be a political component to this so that Sunni and Shia who care about building a functioning state that can bring about security and prosperity to all people inside of Iraq come together and work diligently against the extremists.” The U.S. has provided Baghdad with $15 billion worth of equipment and training after spending $1.7 trillion and nearly 4,500 lives in almost nine years of war. “Over the last year we have been providing them with additional assistance to try to address the problems that they have in Anbar, the northwest portions of the country, as well as the Iraqi and Syrian border,” Obama said. “What we’ve seen over the last couple of days indicates the degree to which Iraq’s going to need more help. It’s going to need more help from us, and it’s going to need more help from the international community.” ## Transcript Closing in on Baghdad, a terror group more radical than Al Qaeda enters Tikrit. Less than two hours drive south, is Baghdad. They're on a roll from the North, hours earlier storming the important oil town Beijing. And before that Mosul, Iraq's second largest city. The power, water and phone lines have been cut in parts of Mosul, 250 miles north of Baghdad where the Al Qaeda splinter group Isis, has seized the important transportation and administration hub. [ FOREIGN ]. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al- Maliki calling it a humanitarian crisis and asking Parliament to declare a state of emergency, calling on men to volunteer to fight. The speaker of Iraq's Parliament, urging the US to play a role in supporting Iraq against the terrorist attack and asking for urgent relief for the displaced by the international community. [ FOREIGN ]. The voice of a refugee in this video, pleading God help us, as half a million Iraqis have already fled the city. We're certainly in touch with Iraqi leadership as much as possible, but ultimately this is this is for the Iraqi security forces. And the Iraqi government to deal with. The fight proving too much for the U. S. trained Iraqi soldiers. Some reportedly discarding their uniforms, abandoning their military armed vehicles and weapons. Iraq's foreign minister is urging Iraq's it's politicians to unite. Bridge sectarian divisions that underpin Isis' battlefield gains. 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