Obama to send advisors to Iraq, open to military action

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.

But Obama, who based an entire political career on ending US involvement in Iraq, insisted the United States is not slipping back into the morass -- and issued a sharp warning that sectarianism spells disaster for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iran.

Obama signalled stepped up White House action after meeting top national security advisors to discuss how to respond to swift gains by rebel Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces, which have seized several key cities and threatening to advance on Baghdad.

The fighters have northern Iraq’s biggest city, Mosul and taken swathes of territory in an advance which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, left an unknown number dead and alarmed Western nations who fear the establishment of a vast new "terror" haven.

Obama was adamant, however, that "American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq." 

"But we will help Iraqis as they take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people, the region and American interests as well," he said.

Obama said he had already bolstered surveillance and intelligence capabilities in the country, to assess the possibilities for military operations that might be in the US national interest.

"Going forward, we will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it," said Obama.

Washington has already positioned an aircraft carrier in the Gulf and is also considering the...