SOUTH KURDISTAN (IRAQ) – MESOP : KERRY’S 1001 TRIP TO THE REGION

Kerry Visits Iraq; 300 Military Advisers Deployed:  Sec. of State Kerry visited Iraq Monday morning to urge the formation of an inclusive government, afterward calling the meeting “good.” President Barack Obama announced that 300 military advisers would be sent to Iraq to “help train Iraqi security forces and target insurgents” who are threatening Baghdad after taking multiple other cities in the north of the country.

Amid calls for the removal of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Obama told reporters “it’s not our job to choose Iraq’s leaders,” which the State Department reiterated. Meghan O’Sullivan wrote, “If Obama takes the more cautious, conditional approach [on military aid], the most likely scenario is that Iraq will both fragment and become engulfed in prolonged sectarian violence that brings regional actors fully into the fray.”