The president just wrapped up a statement and Q&A session on the current situation in Iraq. Apparently, they had to drag him in and give him a full-out briefing first, since there was nearly an hour-long wait for the president to actually show up to this press conference. Once he came in, his official statement on Iraq was a whole whopping 5 minutes. (Yes, I timed it.) Here are the five points that the president and his crack team have come up with to deal with Iraq:

1) Secure the embassy to protect American personnel.
2) Increase reconnaissance, surveillance, and intelligence assets inside Iraq to get more information about the situation on the ground.
3) Up to 300 “military advisors” available to support the Iraqi security forces, but no American troops will return to Iraq.
4) The US military assets in the region (our ships and troops stationed in the area) will be on alert and available for possible “targeted and precise military action.”
5) Secretary of State John Kerry is being sent to the Middle East and Europe to do more talking. This will be a big diplomatic effort to push “stability in Iraq” while telling the neighboring countries to respect Iraq’s “territorial integrity.” President Obama stated that “all of Iraq’s neighbors have a vital interest in ensuring Iraq does not descend into civil war, or become a safe haven for terrorists.” He also called for the new Iraqi parliament to get assembled as soon as possible, while also saying that the United States will not intervene on behalf of one “sect” over another.

He closed with vowing to work for the best interests of America when it comes to stability in Iraq, and said he would consult with Congress, keep the American people informed, “remain vigilant,” and do everything to protect US citizens in the region. The video below covers his statement and a little of the Q&A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JRsLNBwh5Y

The Q&A lasted longer than the statement. He took questions from 4 reporters that he called on, and those mostly dealt with the issue of confidence in Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Obama constantly sidestepped the issue of whether HE had confidence that Maliki could deal with the ongoing sectarian divisions, simply saying that this was Maliki’s test, and we would not be helping. He also pointed the finger at Maliki for not accepting any US forces and declining to provide troops with immunity if they were forced to defend themselves. The situation in Syria also came up, as ISIS/ISIL came out of there (one reporter called the situation in Iraq the “expansion of the Syrian civil war”). For those keeping track, the media likes to say “ISIS” (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), and the government officially calls it “ISIL” (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. “Levant” is an old term for the eastern Mediterranean countries).

A few thoughts after listening to a half hour of a giant show of smoke and mirrors… because really, there was no grand strategy or plan listed out here. This was a presser to show the media that Obama can cram for a test and retain enough information to say absolutely nothing of importance. Nothing he said signified a major change in his current stance on Iraq, but there were a few interesting items:

– The first, the VERY FIRST, thing he listed off as important was securing the American embassy. I can’t be the only person who immediately thought of Benghazi when he said that.
– He carefully avoided all metaphors and catchphrases when talking about Iraq and Syria. No “red lines” in this talk. The closest he got was saying that we would not play “whack-a-mole” when dealing with terror groups; Obama wants to build “effective partnerships” with legitimate governments so terrorism can be dealt with. What, we can’t walk and chew bubble gum at the same time? We can’t whack terrorist where we find them and play nice with local governments? Why do we have a State Department, again?
– Obama’s comment about neighboring countries respecting Iraq’s “territorial integrity” smelled of Russia, Ukraine, and Crimea. You can tell that he really, REALLY wants the Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds to play nice and have a representative parliamentary government because those last elections were just so darn fantastic. I’m not sure who Obama is trying to send a message to, because I don’t think Bashar al-Assad is taking his calls right now.
– Iran. Iran is the elephant in the room, and the last question (shouted out when the president was trying to leave the room) was about their possible intervention. Obama actually said that “Iran can play a constructive role” in Iraq if they encourage the establishment of the elected government, instead of coming in to tilt the balance in favor of the Shia population. I bet the Iranian mullahs just about wet their robes laughing over that one.

So, there we are. Obama has come in, symbolically washed his hands, sent Kerry to go talk with more people, pointed at Maliki and told him to get this fixed, all while trying to avoid another Benghazi.

Anyone else feel better now?