With Al-Qaeda becoming increasingly active in Iraq, President Obama offered assistance to combat their presence but did not make any new commitments.
In summing up his meeting with Al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq, he said, “The main theme was that the United States wants to be a strong and effective partner with Iraq, and we are deeply invested in seeing an Iraq that is inclusive, that is democratic and that is prosperous. And I communicated to the prime minister that anything that we can do to help bring about that more hopeful future for Iraq is something that we want to work on.”
Al-Maliki, on the other hand, stated that the meeting was effective as he visited the Oval Office in order to request for additional help in the form of intelligence and weapons to fight this spike in insurgents in Iraq in recent times.
This meeting for additional assistance, that has taken place between December 2011, has taken place despite America already providing military aid to Iraq as well as equipment in the form of helicopters, military planes, patrol boats and a surface-to-air missile.
In earlier developments, American troops pulled out completely when Al-Maliki’s government refused to give the troops legal immunity that was required to keep them fully protected.
Since Obama had campaigned for the Presidency in promising that all troops will leave Iraq, he took this dispute as an opportunity to do so – ending a war that cost $700 billion and 4500 troops.