Obama ‘can bypass congress on Iraq’

Administration officials said airstrikes have become less of a focus but also that the president could order such a step if intelligence agencies can identify clear targets on the ground.

Iraq’s Sunni insurgents, who have seized vast territories across the north, have suddenly become a headache for the president during a midterm election year, as Republicans hope to take control of the Senate in November.

Mr Obama spent over an hour yesterday discussing options for responding to the crumbling security situation in Iraq with Democratic senate majority leader Harry Reid, Republican senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican house speaker John Boehner, and Democratic house minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

Mr McConnell said the president “indicated he didn’t feel he had any need for authority from us for steps that he might take”.

An administration official said it was the leaders who suggested Mr Obama already had authority to take additional action in Iraq.

The official downplayed the notion that the president agreed with that, saying only that Mr Obama said he would continue to consult with lawmakers.

Republicans insist Mr Obama bears the blame for allowing the insurgency to strengthen because of his decision to withdraw US forces from Iraq in late 2011 after more than eight years of war.

Washington and Baghdad failed to reach a security agreement that would have allowed American forces to stay longer.

Yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry brushed aside criticism of Obama administration Middle East policy, taking exception to claims it has been too passive in the face of surging terrorism.

Asked about former vice president Dick Cheney’s assertion that Mr Obama has been wrong all along about the Middle East, Mr Kerry replied: “This is a man who took us directly into Iraq. Please.”

He reiterated that airstrikes have not been ruled out, saying that “nothing is off the table” in administration discussions.

The White House has publicly dodged questions about whether Mr Obama might seek congressional approval if he decides to take military action. Last summer, he did seek approval for possible strikes against Syria, but scrapped the effort when it became clear that lawmakers would not agree.

However, administration officials have suggested that the president may be able to act on his own in this case because Iraq’s government has requested US military assistance.

In addition, an authorisation for the use of military force in Iraq, passed by Congress in 2002, is still on the books and could potentially be used as a rationale for the White House acting.

Some lawmakers were outraged when Mr Obama launched military action in Libya in 2011 with minimal consultation with Congress and no formal authorisation from lawmakers.

More recently, some in Congress complained the White House did not consult on final plans for releasing five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for freeing detained American soldier Bowe Bergdahl.

Mr Obama’s decision-making on airstrikes has been complicated by intelligence gaps that resulted from the US military withdrawal from Iraq in late 2011, which left the country largely off-limits to American operatives.

Intelligence agencies are trying to close gaps and identify possible targets that include insurgent encampments, training camps, weapons caches and other stationary supplies, according to US officials.

Officials also suggest the US could more easily identify targets on the ground if the president sent in additional American trainers to work with Iraqi security forces. Mr Obama is considering that possibility, the officials say, though he has ruled out sending troops for combat missions.