Iraq's prime minister secretly asked the U.S. to consider airstrikes against insurgents

Iraq's prime minister secretly asked the U.S. to consider airstrikes against insurgents
(Image credit: CC by: U.S. Army)

Iraqi and American officials both say that in May, as the threat from Sunni extremists increased, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki covertly requested that the Obama administration consider using airstrikes against the militants.

The appeal for assistance was rejected, The New York Times reports, mainly because President Obama does not want to get the U.S. involved in Iraq again. In a statement, National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said, "We are not going to get into details of our diplomatic discussions, but the government of Iraq has made clear that they welcome our support."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.