In a statement made Thursday night, President Obama said he has authorized military strikes on Islamic State militants if they continue their advancement on the city of Irbil, where military personnel and the U.S. consulate are located. (AP) 
 
 President Obama said Thursday night that he has authorized two new, major actions by the U.S. military in Iraq: airstrikes against militants with the Islamic State if U.S. interests or personnel are threatened, and humanitarian assistance for thousands of civilians who have fled the Islamist advance in northwest Iraq and are now trapped on a mountain. 
 
 Even those two specific missions are more complicated than that, however. 
 
 First, the U.S. humanitarian mission on Mount Sinjar began Thursday with airdrops by military aircraft, but it could require targeted airstrikes in order to “break the siege” at the base of the mountain and allow authorities to provide more assistance to the civilians, Obama said. They would be conducted in coordination with the Iraqi government and Iraqi Kurdish security forces known as pesh merga. 
 
 Second, the advance of the Islamic State near Irbil appears to be a line in the sand for the Obama administration. The United States has both diplomats and military advisers in the city, which is the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The United States also has a consulate in Irbil, creating enough interests that the United States wants to protect the city from harm. 
 
 “To stop the advance on Irbil, I’ve directed our military to take targeted strikes against [Islamic State] terrorist convoys should they move toward the city,” Obama said. “We intend to stay vigilant, and take action if these terrorist forces threaten our personnel or facilities anywhere in Iraq, including our consulate in Irbil and our embassy in Baghdad.” 
 
 
 
 In this image released by The White House, President Obama meets with the National Security Council in the Situation Room of the White House on Thursday in Washington. (AP Photo/The White House, Pete Souza) 
 
 Here’s what we know now about the specifics of these missions: 
 
 Humanitarian air drops 
 
 The U.S. military launched one C-17 and two C-130 cargo planes near Mount Sinjar on Thursday, dropping 8,000 prepackaged meals and 5,300 gallons of water, senior U.S. officials said. The aircraft were accompanied by two F/A-18 fighter jets, which came out of an undisclosed air base in the Middle East. The Pentagon did not indicate which units or branch of service operated any of the aircraft. 
 
 Pentagon officials said in a statement that the three cargo planes released a total of 72 bundles of supplies. They flew over the drop area for less than 15 minutes, and left the area before Obama announced the actions in his 9:30 p.m. address. 
 
 Senior U.S. officials left open the possibility that the United States could conduct more airdrops in coming days if it’s needed. That appears possible, considering human rights workers have estimated that up to 40,000 civilians may be trapped on the mountain, unable to return their homes for fear of being killed by militants. 
 
 “We feel that this is a unique and urgent humanitarian challenge,” one senior officials said Thursday night. 
 
 
 
 This image made from video taken on Sunday shows Iraqis people from the Yazidi community arriving in Irbil in northern Iraq after Islamic militants attacked the towns of Sinjar and Zunmar. Around 40,000 people crossed the bridge of Shela in Fishkhabur into the northern Kurdish region of Iraq after being given an ultimatum by Islamic militants to either convert to Islam, pay a security tax, leave their homes, or die. (AP Photo via AP video) 
 
 Preparing for airstrikes 
 
 The advance of militants across northern Iraq has been watched closely this week, but a new wave of attacks threatened Irbil in a way it had not been before, U.S. officials said. That led the president to authorize airstrikes if necessary. 
 
 U.S. officials also said that with the increased threat now facing Irbil, the United States has either surveillance drones or manned aircraft flying over the area almost constantly, keeping tabs on militant movements. 
 
 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement Thursday night that U.S. military advisers in Iraq will continue to assess ways to help train and assist Iraqi forces, and will provide undisclosed “increased support” once Iraq has formed a new government. Most of the troops there are U.S. Army Special Forces. 
 
 Outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Malikihas faced fierce criticism for appointing friends to key positions, allowing corruption and cutting Iraq’s Sunni population out of the political process, fueling the insurgency. A new prime minister could be selected in coming days, U.S. officials signaled Thursday night. 
 
 UPDATED, Friday, Aug. 8, 9 a.m.: U.S. airstrikes in Iraq have begun after militants launched artillery rounds at Kurdish troops defending Irbil. Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, posted this tweet: ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Paul Wood met refugees who have fled to the Kurdish countryside 
 
 Islamist militants in Iraq have seized two new towns, widening their control after threatening to move on Baghdad. 
 
 The Sunni-led Islamists advanced into Diyala province in the east - near Iran and close to the capital - having seized Mosul and Tikrit to the north. 
 
 The UN says hundreds have been killed - with militants carrying out summary executions of civilians in Mosul, including 17 civilians in one street. 
 
 The US says it is looking at "all options", including military action. 
 
 Led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the insurgents have threatened to push to the capital, Baghdad and regions further south dominated by Iraq's Shia Muslim majority, whom they regard as "infidels". 
 
 At the scene, Feras Killani, BBC News, Baghdad 
 
 Fear is the thing that you feel the most as you walk through Baghdad's streets, as the militants come closer. People here are buying supplies and staying in front of their television sets. They remember what happened during the civil war of 2006-2008 and are very scared this will happen again. 
 
 Many Iraqis no longer trust their national army after soldiers retreated from the ISIS advance. Some have even called for people to instead join militias to defend cities and holy sites. 
 
 It's certainly not the same Baghdad it has been in the last few years. 
 
 Is this the end of Iraq? 
 
 Iraq crisis: Voices from Mosul under ISIS control 
 
 Viewpoint: ISIS goals and possible future gains 
 
 Iraq conflict: US air power no remedy 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption US President Barack Obama: "I don't rule out anything" 
 
 Neighbouring Shia-majority Iran has pledged to support Iraq. President Hassan Rouhani called Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and promised that Iran "will not allow the supporters of terrorists to disrupt security and stability of Iraq through exporting terrorism to Iraq". 
 
 According to the Wall Street Journal - which cited unnamed sources - Iran has already deployed two battalions of the elite al-Quds forces of its Revolutionary Guard to help the Iraqi government. 
 
 US President Barack Obama said he did not "rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in Iraq, or Syria for that matter". 
 
 White House spokesman Jay Carney subsequently added that President Obama was referring to not ruling out air strikes. "We are not contemplating ground troops," he said. 
 
 Fears of ISIS sparking a wider Sunni uprising have increased with reports that former Baath Party members loyal to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein have joined forces with the jihadists. 
 
 The US will be reluctant to get drawn back into Iraq, or give backing to one side in what appears to have some of the dimensions of civil war, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Irbil - an area in the autonomous Kurdish-controlled north. 
 
 Analysis: Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor 
 
 If ISIS can hold Mosul and consolidate its presence there, it will have taken a giant step towards its goal of creating an Islamist emirate that straddles Iraq and Syria. 
 
 It would be the most significant act by a jihadist group since al-Qaeda attacked the US on 11 September 2001. It could also lead to other changes to the borders Britain and France imposed on the Middle East a century ago, starting with the break-up of Iraq on sectarian lines. 
 
 The success of ISIS can only make the turmoil in the Middle East worse. ISIS is an ultra-extremist Sunni Muslim group. Its success will deepen the sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shias that is already the most dangerous fault line in the Middle East. 
 
 Iran, which is a majority Shia Muslim country, shares a border with Iraq. It has a direct line to Iraq's Shia Muslim Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, and close links with some Iraqi Shia militias. The Iranians could direct their proxies, and even their own special forces units, at ISIS. 
 
 That might end up further inflaming the anger of Iraqi Sunnis, who have already helped the advance of ISIS through Iraq. 
 
 US air strikes, if they happen, might do the same thing. Once again in the Middle East, the Americans have limited options. Their invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 helped create and strengthen jihadist groups. 
 
 Sharpening Sunni-Shia schism bodes ill for Middle East 
 
 It is becoming clear that the insurgents are not foreign fighters as Mr Maliki alleges, our correspondent says. 
 
 Many strands of Sunni society alienated by Mr Maliki's rule appear to have joined them, he says. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Iraq state TV airs footage said to be airstrikes on the ISIS-held city of Mosul 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Iraq's former PM Ayad Allawi says the country could be facing a break-up as a result of the insurgency led by Islamist militants 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The advance of the militants has been swift - with the Iraqi army abandoning posts 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption However, with threats of a move on Baghdad, volunteers heeded a government call to join the resistance 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption The flow of refugees from Mosul has slowed down to a trickle 
 
 UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said on Friday that his office had verified reports that included the killing of 17 civilians working for the police and 12 Iraqi soldiers. 
 
 Among the atrocities, he listed four women who had killed themselves after being raped. 
 
 He said there had been government "excesses", too, and cited the shelling of civilian areas on 6 and 8 June. 
 
 "There are claims that up to 30 civilians may have been killed," Mr Colville said. 
 
 The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, says local authorities estimate that up to 300,000 people fled Mosul in the past few days - joining the more than 500,000 displaced by the conflict in Anbar province earlier. 
 
 However, the number of those arriving has slowed down and some already there have begun to return. 
 
 In the north of the country, Kurdish forces have claimed control of the oil city of Kirkuk, saying government forces have fled. 
 
 The Kurds - seen as a bulwark against the Sunni Muslim insurgents - have also been locked for years in a dispute with Baghdad over Kirkuk, seeking to incorporate it into their own autonomous area. 
 
 ISIS in Iraq 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption An Islamist fighter near a burning Iraqi army Humvee in Tikrit ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Video posted online purported to show militants at a former US base in Tikrit 
 
 Iraq's most senior Shia cleric has issued a call to arms after Sunni-led insurgents seized more towns. 
 
 The call by a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani came as the militants widened their grip in the north and east, and threatened to march south, towards Baghdad. 
 
 The UN says hundreds have been killed - with militants carrying out summary executions of civilians in Mosul. 
 
 President Barack Obama has said the US is reviewing its options over Iraq. 
 
 Iran has also promised to help the fight against the insurgency. 
 
 Led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the Sunni insurgents have threatened to push towards the capital and other regions dominated by Iraq's Shia Muslim majority, whom they regard as "infidels". 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Barack Obama: "The US will do our part, but understand that ultimately it is up to the Iraqis as a sovereign nation to solve their problems." 
 
 Mr Obama told reporters on Friday that he "will not be sending US troops back into Iraq", but that Iraq needed additional support to "break the momentum of extremist groups and bolster the capabilities of Iraqi security forces". 
 
 He stressed that any US action "has to be joined by a serious and sincere effort by Iraq's leaders to set aside sectarian differences". 
 
 The BBC's North America editor Mark Mardell says Mr Obama made it clear the US would not be dragged into another conflict in Iraq. 
 
 British Foreign Secretary William Hague also confirmed that the UK was not planning a British military intervention. 
 
 The price of Brent crude spiked on Friday over concerns about the ongoing violence. 
 
 At the scene, Feras Kilani, BBC News, Baghdad 
 
 Fear is the thing that you feel the most as you walk through Baghdad's streets, as the militants come closer. People here are buying supplies and staying in front of their television sets. They remember what happened during the civil war of 2006-2008 and are very scared this will happen again. 
 
 Many Iraqis no longer trust their national army after soldiers retreated from the ISIS advance. It's certainly not the same Baghdad it has been in the last few years. 
 
 BBC reporters' Iraq round-up 
 
 Voices from Mosul under ISIS control 
 
 Viewpoint: What are the goals of ISIS? 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How strong is the army? In 60 seconds. 
 
 In his sermon at Friday prayers in Karbala, Sheik Abdulmehdi al-Karbalai said: "Citizens who are able to bear arms and fight terrorists, defending their country and their people and their holy places, should volunteer and join the security forces to achieve this holy purpose." 
 
 There are reports that thousands have already joined Shia militias which could play a crucial role in the defence of Baghdad, says the BBC's Richard Galpin there. 
 
 Meanwhile Iraq's Ministry of Communications has started blocking social media sites in the capital, according to the privately-owned Iraqi news agency Al-Mada. 
 
 As the militants moved on to Diyala province on the border with Iran later on Friday, they clashed with Shia militias in Udhaim, about 90km (60 miles) north of Baghdad and in Muqdadiya, 80km north-east of the capital, Reuters news agency says. 
 
 President Hassan Rouhani of Iran called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Thursday and promised that Shia-majority Iran would "not allow the supporters of terrorists to disrupt security and stability of Iraq through exporting terrorism to Iraq". 
 
 According to unnamed sources in both the the Wall Street Journal and CNN, Iran has already sent several elite units of its Revolutionary Guard to help the Iraqi government. 
 
 But according to the Associated Press, Iranian officials have denied that their forces are actively operating inside Iraq. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Volunteers have been gathering in numbers to join the fight against the Sunni-led militants 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Shia civilians are cleaning their weapons in readiness 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption In the town of Taji, near Baghdad, Iraqi policemen have begun digging trenches 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Militants in Mosul have been celebrating their easy victory, as the army withdrew 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption A clean-up has begun in Mosul - now under militant control 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Waves of people seek refuge in Kurdish region, as Rami Ruhayem reports 
 
 Analysis: Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor 
 
 The success of ISIS can only make the turmoil in the Middle East worse. ISIS is an ultra-extremist Sunni Muslim group. Its success will deepen the sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shias that is already the most dangerous fault line in the Middle East. 
 
 Iran, which is a majority Shia Muslim country, shares a border with Iraq. It has a direct line to Iraq's Shia Muslim Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, and close links with some Iraqi Shia militias. The Iranians could direct their proxies, and even their own special forces units, at ISIS. 
 
 That might end up further inflaming the anger of Iraqi Sunnis, who have already helped the advance of ISIS through Iraq. 
 
 US air strikes, if they happen, might do the same thing. Once again in the Middle East, the Americans have limited options. Their invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 helped create and strengthen jihadist groups. 
 
 Nouri Maliki: Iraq's leader under pressure 
 
 Sharpening Sunni-Shia schism bodes ill for Middle East 
 
 What does Iraq's crisis mean for oil? 
 
 Rape and murder 
 
 The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, says local authorities estimate that up to 300,000 people fled Mosul in the past few days - joining the more than 500,000 displaced by the conflict in Anbar province earlier. 
 
 However, the number of those arriving has slowed down and some already there have begun to return. 
 
 UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said on Friday that his office had verified reports that included the killing of 17 civilians working for the police and 12 Iraqi soldiers. 
 
 He said there had been government "excesses", too, and cited the shelling of civilian areas on 6 and 8 June. 
 
 ISIS in Iraq 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption An Islamist fighter near a burning Iraqi army Humvee in Tikrit 
 
 The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has 3,000 to 5,000 fighters, and grew out of an al-Qaeda-linked organisation in Iraq 
 
 Joined in its offensives by other Sunni militant groups, including Saddam-era officers and soldiers, and sympathetic Sunni tribal fighters 
 
 ISIS has exploited the standoff between the Iraqi government and the minority Sunni Arab community, which complains that Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is monopolising power 
 
 The organisation is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an obscure figure regarded as a battlefield commander and tactician 
 
 Correction 16 June 2014: The headline on this story has been amended to make clear that Grand Ayatollah Sistani called on all Iraqis, not just Shias, to defend their country. ||||| Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite coalition won an outright majority of parliamentary seats in a recent national election. Shiite parties won an outright majority. 
 
 President Obama said that though the U.S. has "enormous interest" in Iraq, it is "ultimately up to the Iraqis" to resolve their conflicts. He said the U.S. is looking at options to support the Iraqi government without sending in troops. (Associated Press) 
 
 President Obama said that though the U.S. has "enormous interest" in Iraq, it is "ultimately up to the Iraqis" to resolve their conflicts. He said the U.S. is looking at options to support the Iraqi government without sending in troops. (Associated Press) 
 
 The Obama administration has decided to hold any military intervention in Iraq in abeyance until it sees clear evidence that the country’s politics and governance are reforming, according to U.S. officials. 
 
 After near-nonstop crisis meetings since early this week, President Obama has ordered options prepared for possible airstrikes in Iraq as well as a wide range of direct military assistance short of American boots on the ground. 
 
 But after assessing that Baghdad’s fall to advancing forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is not imminent, the administration has opted for a short-term strategy that it sees as offering potential long-term gain. 
 
 The United States “is not simply going to involve itself in a military action in the absence of a political plan by the Iraqis that gives us some assurance that they’re prepared to work together,” Obama said Friday in a statement outside the White House. 
 
 Obama cautioned that whatever happens, it “is going to take several days. . . . People should not anticipate that this is something that is going to happen overnight.” 
 
 The strategy addresses a dilemma. U.S. intervention to stop ISIS forces could help spark all-out sectarian war if it were seen as enabling the Shiite government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to stay in power without making concessions to the long-abused Sunni minority. 
 
 Failure to intervene could bring the same result if the Shiite majority activates its own radical militias and rises up to protect the government. 
 
 “This will get even more entrenched,” said a senior administration official. “It has the potential to really ignite a sectarian conflagration.” 
 
 The administration has been pressing Maliki and other political leaders for years, with virtually no success, to accommodate the interests of Sunnis, Kurds and other minorities. Instead, the sectarian divide that underlies Iraq’s current problems has grown worse, with Maliki and his allies seizing a greater share of the central government and delaying power-sharing initiatives. 
 
 Many Sunni citizens of Mosul and other northern cities where ISIS took power this week have greeted the militants with at least initial gratitude after the departure of Iraq’s largely Shiite and often-abusive army. 
 
 “This crisis may have the potential to concentrate minds in a way that nothing that’s come before has,” the senior official said. In Baghdad, officials are “looking over the abyss right now. . . . We can’t say it will for sure, but it has the potential to be a defining moment.” 
 
 “We’re talking to the entire leadership, starting with the prime minister, to include everyone from all the different communities,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations and policy decisions. 
 
 The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an al-Qaeda splinter group that has seized a huge chunk of northern Iraq, is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a relatively unknown and enigmatic figure. (The Washington Post) 
 
 Iraq’s recent national election contributes to the administration’s belief that political actions can be taken quickly and visibly. Shiite parties won an outright majority of parliamentary seats, in results that will be certified in the next few days. 
 
 “Certification triggers a calendar that, among other things, requires the new parliament to be seated within two weeks,” the official said, and a series of timelines for forming a new government and choosing a new president, prime minister and other high-level officials. 
 
 “It’s going to be very interesting to see the impact of this crisis on that process,” the official said. 
 
 There has been some speculation in Iraq that parliament, including some within Maliki’s own bloc, has grown increasingly weary of the man who has served as prime minister since 2006. Since he began a second four-year term in 2010, Maliki has kept the defense and interior portfolios for himself, in addition to continuing as prime minister. 
 
 Among the signs the administration is waiting for is government action on “legitimate grievances of the Sunnis . . . [and] reform of the security services,” the official said. 
 
 Asked about a risk of the security situation on the ground getting out of hand while the administration waits for political movement, the official said, “That line may well exist. We’ll know it when we see it.” Obama, he said, has ordered military options prepared to “get ahead of” the line and to allow for quick action, if necessary. 
 
 But “one thing we learned from our collective experience in Iraq” is the danger of “taking any action without thinking through the consequences,” the official said, referring to the George W. Bush administration’s 2003 invasion of Iraq. 
 
 The official said the Obama administration was closely consulting with regional governments, which might be asked to provide assembly points or air bases for U.S. military action. Those consultations do not include Iran, he said, where talks with the United States remain limited to Iran’s nuclear program. 
 
 As direct intervention and assistance is readied, the Pentagon’s press secretary, Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, told reporters Friday that “it’s important to remember that we have some 35,000 U.S. military personnel” already based in the Middle East region. The aircraft carrier USS Bush and its strike group of ships remain in the region but, despite some news media reports, have not moved into the Persian Gulf. 
 
 The United States has also already provided substantial military equipment to Iraq since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops. This week, he said, the United States had “intensified” its intelligence and surveillance assistance “at the request of the Iraqi government.” 
 
 The senior administration official cited Iraqi requests for additional military assistance over the past year as evidence that politics in Iraq have already begun to change. Before ISIS began to surface as a potent force in 2013, with fighters moving back and forth from the civil war in neighboring Syria, the Iraqis “really weren’t looking to us for much,” the official said. 
 
 Any kind of political solution in Iraq will require the cooperation of Sunni tribal leaders who have long-standing grievances with the Maliki government. “They now believe that the government of Iraq is a greater threat than the Sunni militants,” said Ben Connable, a Rand analyst who met with some of the tribal leaders in March in Jordan. 
 
 U.S. troops forged close relationships with many of these tribal leaders in 2007 to push out forces aligned with al-Qaeda in Iraq. Since then, many have felt abandoned by the U.S. government and under attack from Maliki and his security forces. But many of these same Sunni leaders are now desperate for U.S. help and support. “They are available, and they have reached out to the U.S. government,” Connable said. 
 
 The cooperation of Sunni tribal leaders could rapidly shift the fortunes of ISIS. “There are only a few thousand ISIS guys,” said Colin Kahl, a former Pentagon official who followed the Middle East. “The only way they can control territory is if they have the complicity of the Sunni tribes.” 
 
 The United States can play a critical role as an intermediary in negotiations with Maliki to decentralize power and to offer tribal leaders greater autonomy and a larger role in the security services. “Maliki has got to do all those things. The question is whether he will listen,” Kahl said. 
 
 The administration continued consultations with Congress on Friday, although officials said they had not yet determined whether congressional approval was required before taking military action. 
 
 Some lawmakers indicated that they have little patience for the administration’s strategy, and little belief that it will work. “The president and his team need to be acting urgently — not ‘reviewing options in the days ahead,’ ” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Edward R. Royce (R-Calif.) said in a statement. “We shouldn’t have boots on the ground, but we need to be hitting these columns of terrorists marching on Baghdad with drones now.” 
 
 Greg Jaffe contributed to this report.
– President Obama gave the green light last night for the US military to launch airstrikes in Iraq, but why now? Some explanations: Twofold mission: The US has already dropped food and supplies to Iraqis trapped on Mount Sinjar by extremist fighters from the Islamic State, or ISIS, and it may drop more. As for the airstrikes, targeted ones may be necessary near the mountain to "break the siege" there, says Obama, and allow more help to arrive and avert a "genocide." The bigger reason for the possible airstrikes, however, seems to be to halt the advance of the extremist fighters in the north. 'Line in the sand': Though the US did not intervene as the Islamic State swept across much of Iraq in recent weeks, the city of Irbil in northern Iraq "appears to be a line in the sand," writes Dan Lamothe in the Washington Post. It's the Kurdish capital, and the US has diplomats and military advisers stationed there among the American allies. (The Islamic State also reportedly controls the country's largest dam, in the northern city of Mosul.) How far? "The question arises: How far is Mr. Obama willing to go?" writes Peter Baker in the New York Times. Obama said "there is 'no American military solution' to the Iraqi insurgency, pointing again to the need for a new politically inclusive government in Baghdad. What he might do if that fails he did not say. And while aides stressed this is a narrow mission, they acknowledged scenarios in which it could expand." Reversal: "The return to military engagement in Iraq is a reversal for Mr. Obama, whose early opposition to the war that toppled Saddam Hussein, and his promise to end it, fueled his long-shot campaign for the White House," write Carol E. Lee and Felicia Schwartz at the Wall Street Journal. "It also puts a spotlight on what has become a familiar feature of the Obama presidency, in which the leader of the most powerful military in the world has become defined by his reluctance to use it." Unity after all? "Ironically, ISIS's campaign against the Kurds may end up helping unify the Iraqi state," writes Joshua Keating at Slate. The Kurds have long been at odds with Nouri al-Maliki's government, but now he's ordering his air force to help them. "Iraq’s various factions, as well as Baghdad’s odd-couple patrons, Iran and the United States, may be forced to work together to confront the most serious threat the country has faced since the worst days of the Iraq war." Full text: Read the president's statement here.