Obama not sending U.S. troops back into Iraq

2014-06-13 33

Following an emboldened insurgency in Iraq by the extremist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant -- U.S. President Barack Obama says he will not be sending U.S. troops back into Iraq.

(SOUNDBITE) U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING:

"We have enormous interests there, and obviously our troops and the American people and the American taxpayers made huge investments and sacrifices in order to give Iraqis the opportunity to chart a better course, a better destiny, but ultimately they're going to have to seize it. As I said before, we are not going to be able to do it for them."

In Iraq -- Amateur video that Reuters cannot independently verify appears to show abandoned Iraqi army tanks.

An insurgency earlier in the week caused security forces to abandon their posts in the city of Mosul.

Some residents in Baghdad say they're leaving the city out of fear, as the extremist group presses on in its fight against the Shi'ite-led government.

Free Traffic Exchange