Kerry: US will support Iraq but not with troops

US secretary of state John Kerry said yesterday that the United States will support Iraq’s fight against al Qaeda-linked militants who have overrun two cities, but won’t send in US troops.

Kerry said the militants are trying to destabilise the region and undermine a democratic process in Iraq, and that the US is in contact with tribal leaders in Anbar province who are standing up to the terrorists.

But, he said, “this is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis. That is exactly what the president and the world decided some time ago when we left Iraq, so we are not obviously contemplating returning. We are not contemplating putting boots on the ground. This is their fight . . . We will help them, but this fight, in the end, they will have to win and I am confident they can.”