Over the past two days, American pilots

and crews have served with courage and skill

in the skies over Iraq.

First, American forces have conducted targeted

airstrikes against terrorist forces outside

the city of Erbil to prevent them from

advancing on the city and to protect our American

diplomats and military personnel.

So far, these strikes have successfully destroyed

arms and equipment that ISIL terrorists

could have used against Erbil.

Meanwhile, Kurdish forces on the ground continue

to defend the city, and the United States

and the Iraqi government have stepped up our military

assistance to Kurdish forces

as they wage their fight.

Second, our humanitarian effort continues

to help the men, women and children stranded

on Mount Sinjar.

American forces have so far conducted two

successful airdrops -- delivering thousands

of meals and gallons of water to these desperate men,

women and children.

And American aircraft are positioned to strike ISIL

terrorists around the mountain to help forces

in Iraq break the siege and rescue those

who are trapped there.

Now, even as we deal with these immediate

situations, we continue to pursue a broader

strategy in Iraq.

We will protect our American citizens in Iraq,

whether they're diplomats, civilians or military.

If these terrorists threaten our facilities

or our personnel, we will take action

to protect our people.

We will continue to provide military

assistance and advice to the Iraqi government

and Kurdish forces as they battle these terrorists,

so that the terrorists cannot establish

a permanent safe haven.

We will continue to work with the international

community to deal with the growing

humanitarian crisis in Iraq.

Even as our attention is focused on preventing

an act of genocide and helping the men

and women and children on the mountain,

countless Iraqis have been driven or fled from their homes,

including many Christians.

This morning, I spoke with Prime Minister Cameron

of the United Kingdom and President Hollande

of France.

I'm pleased that both leaders expressed their

strong support for our actions and have agreed

to join us in providing humanitarian assistance

to Iraqi civilians who are suffering so much.

Once again, America is proud to act alongside

our closest friends and allies.

More broadly, the United Nations in Iraq is working

urgently to help respond to the needs

of those Iraqis fleeing from areas under threat.

The U.N. Security

Council has called

on the international community to do everything

it can to provide food, water and shelter.

And in my calls with allies and partners around

the world, I'll continue to urge them to join

us in this humanitarian effort.

Finally, we continue to call on Iraqis to come

together and form the inclusive government

that Iraq needs right now.

Vice President Biden has been speaking

to Iraqi leaders, and our team in Baghdad

is in close touch with the Iraqi government.

All Iraqi communities are ultimately threatened

by these barbaric terrorists and all Iraqi

communities need to unite to defend their country.

Just as we are focused on the situation

in the north affecting Kurds and Iraqi minorities,

Sunnis and Shia in different parts of Iraq

have suffered mightily at the hands of ISIL.

Once an inclusive government is in place,

I'm confident it will be easier to mobilize

all Iraqis against ISIL, and to mobilize

greater support from our friends and allies.

Ultimately, only Iraqis can ensure

the security and stability of Iraq.

The United States can't do it for them,

but we can and will be partners in that effort.

One final thing -- as we go forward,

we'll continue to consult with Congress and coordinate closely

with our allies and partners.

And as Americans, we will continue to show

gratitude to our men and women in uniform

who are conducting our operations there.

When called, they were ready --

as they always are.

When given their mission, they've performed

with distinction -- as they always do.

And when we see them serving

with such honor and compassion, defending our fellow citizens

and saving the lives of people they've never

met, it makes us proud to be Americans --

as we always will be.

So with that, let me take a couple questions.

The Press: Mr. President, for how long

a period of time do you see these airstrikes continuing for?

And is your goal there to contain ISIS

or to destroy it?

The President: I'm not going to give a particular

timetable, because as I've said

from the start, wherever and whenever U.S.

personnel and facilities are threatened,

it's my obligation, my responsibility

as Commander-in-Chief, to make sure

that they are protected.

And we're not moving our embassy anytime soon.

We're not moving our consulate anytime soon.

And that means that, given the challenging security

environment, we're going to maintain

vigilance and ensure that our people are safe.

Our initial goal is to not only make sure

Americans are protected, but also to deal

with this humanitarian situation in Sinjar.

We feel confident that we can prevent ISIL

from going up a mountain and slaughtering

the people who are there.

But the next step, which is going

to be complicated logistically, is how do we give safe passage

for people down from the mountain, and where

can we ultimately relocate them so that they are safe.

That's the kind of coordination that

we need to do internationally.

I was very pleased to get the cooperation

of both Prime Minister Cameron and President Hollande

in addressing some of the immediate needs

in terms of airdrops and some of the assets

and logistical support that they're providing.

But there's a broader set of questions

that our experts now are engaged in with the United Nations

and our allies and partners,

and that is how do we potentially create a safe

corridor or some other mechanism so that these people can move.

That may take some time -- because there are varying

estimates of how many people are up there,

but they're in the thousands, and moving them

is not simple in this kind of security environment.

Just to give people a sense, though,

of a timetable -- that the most important timetable

that I'm focused on right now is the Iraqi

government getting formed and finalized.

Because in the absence of an Iraqi government,

it is very hard to get a unified effort

by Iraqis against ISIL.

We can conduct airstrikes, but ultimately there's

not going to be an American military solution

to this problem.

There's going to have to be an Iraqi solution that

America and other countries and allies support.

And that can't happen effectively until you have

a legitimate Iraqi government.

So right now we have a President, we have

a speaker.

What we don't yet have is a prime minister

and a cabinet that is formed that can go ahead

and move forward, and then start reaching

out to all the various groups and factions inside of Iraq,

and can give confidence to populations

in the Sunni areas that ISIL is not the only game in town.

It also then allows us to take those Iraqi

security forces that are able and functional,

and they understand who they're reporting

to and what they're fighting for, and what the chain

of command is.

And it provides a structure in which better

cooperation is taking place between the Kurdish

region and Baghdad.

So we're going to be pushing very hard

to encourage Iraqis to get their government together.

Until we do that, it is going to be hard

to get the unity of effort that allows

us to not just play defense, but also engage in some offense.

The Press: Mr. President, the United States

has fought long wars in Afghanistan

and Iraq with uncertain outcomes.

How do you assure the American people that we're

not getting dragged into another war in Iraq?

Have you underestimated the power of ISIS?

And finally, you said that you involved

international partners in humanitarian efforts.

Is there any thought to talking to international

partners as far as military actions

to prevent the spread of ISIS?

The President: Well, a couple of things

I would say.

Number one, I've been very clear that we're

not going to have U.S. combat

troops in Iraq again.

And we are going to maintain that,

because we should have learned a lesson from

our long and immensely costly incursion in Iraq.

And that is that our military is so effective

that we can keep a lid on problems wherever

we are, if we put enough personnel and resources into it.

But it can only last if the people

in these countries themselves are able to arrive

at the kinds of political accommodations

and compromise that any civilized society requires.

And so it would be, I think, a big mistake

for us to think that we can, on the cheap,

simply go in, tamp everything down again, restart

without some fundamental shift in attitudes

among the various Iraqi factions.

That's why it is so important

to have an Iraqi government on the ground

that is taking responsibility that we can help,

that we can partner with, that has the capacity

to get alliances in the region.

And once that's in place, then I think

we end up being one of many countries that

can work together to deal with the broader crisis

that ISIL poses.

What were your other questions?

Did we underestimate ISIL?

I think that there is no doubt that their advance,

their movement over the last several months

has been more rapid than the intelligence estimates

and I think the expectations of policymakers

both in and outside of Iraq.

And part of that is I think

not a full appreciation of the degree to which

the Iraqi security forces, when they're far away

from Baghdad, did not have the incentive

or the capacity to hold ground against an aggressive adversary.

And so that's one more reason why Iraqi

government formation is so important --

because there has to be a rebuilding and an understanding

of who it is that the Iraqi security forces are reporting

to, what they are fighting for.

And there has to be some investment

by Sunnis in pushing back against ISIL.

I think we're already seeing --

and we will see even further -- the degree to which those

territories under ISIL control alienated populations,

because of the barbarity and brutality

with which they operate.

But in order to ensure that Sunni populations

reject outright these kinds of incursions,

they've got to feel like they're invested

in a broader national government.

And right now, they don't feel that.

So the upshot is that what we've seen over

the last several months indicates the weaknesses