WASHINGTON — President Obama said Thursday he’s deploying 300 U.S. military advisers to Iraq to help its beleaguered army beat back the Islamic extremists overrunning the nation.  Obama also delivered a warning to Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Malaki, a Shiite whose failure to make accommodations to the Sunni minority has allowed the extremist uprising to take hold.  “Only leaders that can govern with an inclusive agenda are going to be able to truly bring the Iraqi people together and help them through this crisis,” Obama said.  The pronouncements inched the U.S. back into a conflict Obama thought he had left behind.  Combined with a previously announced deployment of 275 troops to protect the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Obama’s actions mean there soon could be close to 600 U.S. forces in Iraq.  The swift advancement of Sunni jihadists with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS, dragged Iraq back onto Obama’s agenda.  Fanatical ISIS fighters have overrun northern Iraqi cities and were battling again Thursday for control of Iraq’s largest oil refinery, in Baiji.  ISIS now controls a vast swath of land across northern Syria and Iraq, creating a potential sanctuary for terrorists to plot against the U.S. and the West — and posing a threat to Iraq’s government in Baghdad.  In announcing the new deployment, less than three years after removing the last combat troops from Iraq, Obama repeatedly said “American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again.”  Instead, the 300 advisers will work with Iraqi forces to create “joint operation centers in Baghdad and northern Iraq to share intelligence and coordinate planning.”  He raised the possibility the U.S. might conduct “targeted and precise” strikes if new intelligence-gathering identifies potential targets.  But Obama made clear that the threat to Iraq requires a political solution by Iraqis, not a military plan conducted by Americans.  “We do not have the ability to simply solve this problem by sending in tens of thousands of troops and committing the kinds of blood and treasure that has already been expended in Iraq,” Obama said.  “Ultimately, this is something that is going to have to be solved by Iraqis.”  To that end, Obama said he will send Secretary of State Kerry to the region to underscore frustration with Maliki and ask other countries to help.  As for longtime U.S. enemy, Iran, Obama said it “can play a constructive role” if it helps to seek a solution in Iraq that includes the Sunnis and Kurds, not just Iran’s natural Shiite allies.  But, Obama noted with skepticism, “Old habits die hard.”  Various Iraqi political factions were reported Thursday to be jockeying to figure a way to dump Maliki. His Sunni opponents and many former Shiite allies have been clamoring to deny him a third term. Some Iraqi leaders and U.S. officials have met in recent days to discuss Maliki’s future.  Obama sidestepped a question by a reporter who asked if he regretted withdrawing combat troops in 2011. “That wasn’t a decision made by me. That was a decision made by the Iraqi government,” he said.  It was a reference to an agreement sought by Washington — but denied by Maliki — that would have granted immunity from Iraqi prosecution to any U.S. troops in Iraq after 2011.
Sunni militants hung their black banners on watch towers at Iraq's largest oil refinery, a witness said Thursday, suggesting the vital facility had fallen to the insurgents who have seized vast territories across the country's north.