Leaders leave door open on action in Iraq

BARACK Obama and Tony Abbott have left open the prospect of military action to save Iraq’s security forces from total collapse.

US President Barack Obama and Tony Abbott have left open the prospect of military action to save Iraq’s security forces from total collapse as al-Qa’ida-linked militants plunge Iraq further into chaos and close in on Baghdad.

Mr Obama and the Prime Minister discussed the bloodshed in the Middle East during their first official meeting in the Oval Office, and also shared their concerns about Iraq and Syria.

“Both our countries are potentially threatened by jihadists and freedom-fighters, as they call them, that are going into Syria, getting trained in terrorist tactics and then potentially coming back to our countries and could end up being a significant threat to our homeland, as well,’’ Mr Obama said.

Obama administration officials have met to discuss their response to the crisis in Iraq as fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham have made lightning gains in the country this week, seizing the northern cities of Mosul and Tikrit and closing in on the capital.

Washington has put all options on the table, except for boots on the ground.

Mr Abbott — who described the tensions in parts of the Middle East as a “witches’ brew of difficulty’’ — did not rule out any possible Australian military involvement alongside the US and stressed the serious risk posed to stability in the region.

“So without ruling anything in, obviously this is a very concerning situation and it does need to be taken seriously and dealt with appropriately,’’ he told Sky News yesterday.

“The Iraqi government is extraordinarily concerned about the very rapid advances that this al-Qa’ida group seems to be making against its own forces.’’

Mr Abbott, who did a round of interviews after his meeting with Mr Obama, told the ABC that the US and Australia had liberated Iraq from former dictator Saddam Hussein.

“I don’t think any of us liberated Iraq from Saddam to see Iraq fall into people who are like the Taliban or worse, to fall into their hands,’’ he said.

ISIS is an offshoot of al-Qa’ida, although the two groups have fallen out in recent months.

Speaking separately, Mr Obama said it was “fair to say’’ there would be “short-term, immediate things that need to be done militarily’’. “I don’t rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria,’’ he said, before White House spokesman Jay Carney later clarified that the US was not contemplating combat troops.