senator jop -- senator john mccain who said that these are pin bri pinpricks, and so we will anticipate that. >> and so we will wait for the president on the white house lawn to address reporters. here he is. >> over the last two days, american pilots and crews have served with courage and skill over the skies of iraq. the first american forces have conducted targeted airstrikes against terrorist forces outside of the city of erbil to prevent them from advancing on the city and to protect our american diplomats and military personnel. so far the strikes have destroyed the arms and the equipment that the isis terrorists could have used. and meanwhile, the kurdish forces on the ground are continue canning to fight.

and our military has stepped up assistance to the kurds as they continue their fight. our humanitarian help continues to help the men, women, and children stranded on mount sinj sinjar. we have had two successful drops delivering meals and water to the thousands is of desperate men and women and children and we are positioned to strike isis terrorists around the mountain to help the forces break the siege, and rescue those who are trapped there. now, even as we deal with the immediate situations, we will continue to pursue a broader strategy in iraq. we will protect our american citizens in iraq whether they are diplomats, civilians or military. if these terrorists threaten our facilities or the pers e nell, we will take action to protect our people. we will continue to provide the military assistance and advice

to the iraqi government and kurdish forces as they battle the terrorists so they cannot establish a international safe haven. so even as our attention is focused on preventing an act of genocide and helping the men, women and children on the mountain, thousands of iraqis have been driven and fled from their homes including many christian christians. this morning i spoke with prime minister cameron and president francis hollande, and i am pleased that they are willing to provide assistance to those suffering so much. once again, america is proud to act alongside the closest friends and allies. more broadly, the united nations in iraq is working quickly to help those fleeing from threat. the national security council has asked for everything the

u.n. can do to provide food, she shelter, and safety. and i will continue to call on the leaders around the world to help in the humanitarian effort. and finally, we continue the call on the iraqis to come together to form the inclusive government that iraq needs right now. vice president biden has been speaking with the iraqi leaders, and our team is in close with the iraqi government. all iraqi communities are threatened by the 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 the kurds and the iraqi minorities, sunni and shia and other parts have suffered mightily at the hands of isis. once an inclusive government is in place, i am confident, it is going to be easier to mobilize all of the iraqis against isis and to mobilize greater support from our friends and allies.

ultimately, only the iraqis can ensure the security and the stability of iraq. the united states cannot do it for them, but we will and can be partners in that effort. one final thing as we go forward. we will consult closely with congress and allies, and as always we will continue to show our gratitude to the men and women in uniform conducting the operations there. when called, they were ready, as they always are, and when given the mission, they perform with distinction as they always do. when we see them serving with honor and compassion defending our fellow citizens and saving the lives of people they have never met, it makes us proud to be americans as we always will be. with that, let me take a couple of questions. >> mr. president? >> yes. >> and for how long a period of time do you see the airstrikes continuing for, and is the goal there to contain isis or to destroy it?

>> i'm not going to give a particular timetable, because as i said from the start, wren ever and however u.s. personnel and facilities are threatened, it is my obligation and responsibility as commander in chief to make sure they are protected. and we are not moving the embassy any time soon, and we are not moving the consulate any time soon, and that means that given the challenging security environment will 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 the humanitarian situation in sinjar. we feel confident that we can prevent eisis going up the mountain to slaughter the people who are there, but the next step

going to be complicated logistically is how do we give safe passage for the people down are from the mountain and where can we ultimately relocate them so that they are safe? that is the coordination that we need to do internationally. i was pleased to get the cooperation of both prime m minister cameron and president hollande in addressing the immediate needs in terms of the air drops and system of the assets and the logistical support they are providing, but there is a broader set of questions that the experts are now engaged in with the united nations. and our allies and partners and that is how to create a potentially safe corridor or some mechanism so that the people can move, and that may take some time, because there are varying estimates of how many people are up there, but they are in the thousands and moving them is not simple in this security environment.

just to give people a sense though of a timetable, the most impornt timetable that i am focused on right now is the iraqi government being formed and finalized, because in the absence of an iraqi government, it is very hard to get a unified effort by iraqis against them. in the end, there is not an american military solution to this problem, because there is a solution that iraqis and others support, and that cannot happen effectively until you have a e legitimate iraqi government. right now, we have a president. we have a speaker. what we don't have yet is a prime m prime minister and a cabinet formed that can go ahead and move forward and then start to reaching out to all of the various groups and factions

inside of iraq. and can give confidence to the populations in the sunni areas that isis is not the only game in town. it allows us to then take the iraqi security forces that are able and functional, and they understand who they are reporting to and what they are fighting for and what the chain of command is, and provides a structure in which better cooperation is taking place between the kurdish region and baghdad. so, we are 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 to engage in the offense. >> mr. president, can i say that the long fought wars in afghanistan and iraq with

uncertain outcomes, and how do you assure the american people that we are not being dragged into another war in iraq, and have you underestimated the power of isis? and finally, you said that you had involved the international partner nos -- partners for the humanitarian aid and any issue of combat troops there? >> well, i have said, we won't have combat troops in iraq, because we should have learned a lesson from the long and immensely costly incursion into iraq. 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 people in these countries, themselves, are a able to arrive at the political accommodations, and compromise that any civilized society requires. and so, it would be 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 the attitudes among the various iraqi factions. that is 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, and has the capacity to get the alliances this the region. once that is in place, we end up one of many countries working

together to deal with the broader crisis that isis proposes. what were the other questions? did we underestimate? i think that there is no doubt that their movement over the last several months has been more rapid than the intelligence estimates and the expectations of the policy makers both inside and outside of iraq. part of that is, i think, not a full appreciation of the degree to which the iraqi security forces when they are far away from baghdad did not have the incentive or the capacity to hold the ground against an aggressive adversary. and so, that is one more reason why the iraqi government

formation is so important, because there has to be a rebuilding and an understand in of who it is that the iraqi security forces are reporting to, and what they are fighting for. and there has to be some investment by the sunnis in pushing back against isis. i think that we are already seeing and we will see further the degree to which those territories are controlled are isolated because of the barbaric ways they operate. but in order to ensure that the sunni populations deny these outright incursions, they have to feel invested in a broader

national government, a right now, they don't feel that. so, the upshot is that what we have seen over the last several months indicates that the weaknesses in an iraqi government, but what we have also seen, i think, is a wake-up call for a lot of iraqis inside of baghdad and recognizing that we are going to have to rethink how we do business if with we are going to be pulling our country together. hopefully, that change in attitude supplemented by the improved security efforts in which we can assist and help, that can make a difference. >> and you have expressed confidence that the iraqi government can eventually prevent the safe hahaven, but y have described the complications of the iraqi government, and the

sophisticated isis, and so it is possible that what you have described there is years and not months? >> well, i don't believe that we are will solve the problems in weeks if that is what you mean. it is going to take some time. the iraqi security forces in order to mount an offensive and be able to operate effectively with the support of sunni populations in sunni areas will have to be revamped, resupplied and have a clear strategy. that's all going to be dependent on a government that the iraqi people and the iraqi military have confidence in. we can help in all of those efforts. i think that part of what we are able to do right now is to preserve a space for them to do the hard work that is necessary. if they do that, the one thing that i also think that has changed is that many of the

sunni countries in the region who have been generally suspicious or weary of the iraqi government are more likely to join in, in the fight against isis, and that can be extremely helpful, by it is going to be a long-term project. part of what we have sehave see that a minority sunni population in iraq as well as a majority sunni population in syria has felt dissatisfied, and detached and alienated from their respective governments, and that has been a ripe territory for the jihadists and extremists to operate. and rebuilding governments in those areas, and the legitimacy for the stable, moderate,

governing in those areas is go g going to take time. there is immediate concerns that we have to or worry about and make sure that isis is not engaging in the action s ths th could cripple the country permanently, and there is key structure inside of iraq that we have to be concerned about. my team has been vigilant even before they went into mosul about foreign fighters gathering in syria and now iraq who might potentially launch attacks outside the region against the western and u.s. targets. so there is a counter terrorism element that we are preparing for, and have been working diligently on for a long time now.

there is going to be a military element in protecting the people, but the long term campaign of changing that environment so that the millions of the sunnis who live in these areas feel connected to and well served by a national government, that is a long term process. that is something that the united states cannot do. only the iraqi people themselves can do. with we can can help. we can advise, but we can't do it for them. and the u.s. military cannot do it for them, and this goes back to the early question about the u.s. military involvement. the nature of the problem is not one that a u.s. military can solve. we can assist and the military can play an extraordinary role

in both efforts of a iraqi pa partner as they make the right steps to keep their country together. but we can't do it for them. okay. last question. >> mr. president -- >> and you have said that you have sent $8 billion to iraq, and do you anticipate more funds for this mission? >> currently, we are operating within the budget constraints that we already have, and we will have to evaluate, you know, what happens over time. we already have a lot of assets in the region. we anticipate when we make our preliminary budgets that there may be things that come up requiring us to engage. right now at least, i think that we are okay. if and when we need additional dollars to make sure that the american personnel and the american facilities are prote

protected, then we will certain ly make that request, but right now, that is not the primary concern. last question? >> mr. president, any second thoughts about pulling all of the ground troops out of iraq, and give you pause as the u.s. is doing the same thing in afghanistan? >> well, yeah. you know what i find interesting is that the degree to which this issue keeps on coming up. as if, this was my decision. under the previous administration, we had turned over the country to a sovereign democratically elected iraqi government. in order for us to maintain the troops in iraq, we needed the invitation of the iraqi government, and we needed assurances that our personnel

would be immune from prosecution if for example they were protecting themselves, and ended up getting into a firefight with iraqis, and that they would not be hauled before the before iraqi -- an iraqi judicial system. and the iraqi government based on its political considerations, in part because iraqis were tired of a u.s. occupation, declined to provide us those assurances and on that basis we left. we had offered to leave additional troops. so when you hear people say do you regret mr. president not leaving more troops, that presupposes that i would have overridden this sovereign government that we had turned the keys back over to and said you're democratic, your sovereign, except if i decide it's good for you to keep 10,000

or 25,000 or 15,000 marines in your country you don't have a choice. which would have kind of run contrary to the entire argument we were making about turning over the country back to iraqis. an argument not just made by me but made by the previous administration. so let's just be clear. the reason that we did not have a force in iraq was because the iraqis, a majority of iraqis did not want u.s. troops there and politically they could not pass the kind of laws that would be required to protect our troops in iraq. having said all that, if, in fact, the iraqi government behaved the way it did over the last five or six years where it failed to pass legislation that would reincorporate sunnis and

give them a chance of ownership. if it targeted certain sunni leaders and if it had alienated some of the sunni tribes that we had brought back in during the so-called awakening that helped us turn the tide in 2006. if they had done all of those things and we had had troop there is, the country wouldn't be holding together either. the only difference would be we would have a bunch of troops on the ground that would be vulnerable and however many troops we had we would have to now be reinforcing, i would have to be protecting them and we'd have a much bigger problem and probably we'd end up having to go up again in terms of the number of ground troops to make sure that those forces were not vulnerable. so that entire analysis is bogus and is wrong. but gets frequently peddled around here by folks who often times are trying to defend previous policies that they

themselves made. going forward with respect to afghanistan, we are leaving the force there. i think the lesson for afghanistan is not the fact that we've got a follow on force that will be capable of training and supporting afghan security efforts. i think the real lesson in afghanistan is that if factions in a country after a long period of civil war do not find a way to come up with a political accommodation, if they take m maximalist positions and their attitude is i want 100% of what i want and the other side gets nothing then it doesn't hold and the good news is is that in part thanks to the excellent work of john kerry and others we're now

seeing the two candidates in the recent presidential election start coming together and agreeing not only to move forward on the audit and to be able to finally certify a winner in the election but also the kinds of political accommodations that will be required to keep democracy moving. so that's the real lesson i think for afghanistan coming out of iraq is if you want this thing to work, then whether it's different ethnicities or religions or regions they have to accommodate each other or otherwise you're back into old patterns of violence and doesn't matter how many u.s. troops are there if that happens. you end up having a mess. thanks a lot guys. >> president obama at the white house discussing remarks about what is going on in iraq prior to leaving for his vacation at

ma that's vineyard. only iraqis can ensure the stability of iraq. the u.s. cannot do it for them but we can help them. you have been watching fox news. doug has been on the north lawn following the developments of what's going on in terms of the president and taking his remarks prior to going to martha's vineyard. he is going to pick up his family and they will go back and depart for martha's vineyard. he said only iraqis can insure the stability of iraq. we can't do it for them but we can hope them providing military assistance to protect the americans serving there but that humanitarian assistance is crucial for those trapped. >> we got a real taste from the president today about the

complexity of this situation in iraq and how it effects not only the future of iraq and it's neighboring countries jordan and lebanon but into the western world as well because we know that isis has among it's fighters many werners. perhaps as many as 100 u.s. citizens. several hundred european citizens who are able to go to that area and fight and come back to their home countries relatively freely because they have passports. they do it by going into turkey and heading sbak into iraq and back into turkey and their home countries. that's the real long-term threat isis poses. the talk we heard from the president is he is not going to give a timetable. he finds himself in a situation he did not want to get himself into. here it is. no timetable. he basically hinted that this operation that we're seeing now with more air strikes today is open ended. he said that we're not going to solve this problem in weeks when he was asked does he foresee a

presence of u.s. air strikes s next several years, his answer we're not going to solve this problem in weeks. yes a very difficult tightrope for the president to walk in a country that is sick and tired of war. a base of his which is sick and tired of war but a situation which demands u.s. military might at this point in time. >> as you know he went on to say it is indeed going to be a long-term problem requiring a long-term solution but the president is saying he will not exit u.s. troops to the ground. that will be required from the iraqi people and talking about why they come together to bring in all factions. i want to get to something you were bringing up and that is the fighters for isis. they moved in with brutality and have been so brazen against all people there who have failed to renounce their faith. but let's get to the point of that. the president was talking about he has to institute some counter

terrorism measures to be sure that those forces fighting there will not try to attack western targets. >> that's right and another part of the complexity of this problem. he made a promise, no u.s. boots on the ground. well, there are some u.s. boots on the ground. we add advisors in the city of erbil. these are advisors whose job it is to help with the iraqi defense forces who as we know earlier dropped their weapons and flee in the face of isis but also to provide targeting information. he did mention that this problem with them trapped on top of the mountain right now. we've seen a second air drop today to resupply them. but this can't go on forever. there has to be a safe passage with them out of there. i did an interview yesterday with the former defense intelligence agency analyst. highly respected man that says what has to be done to help them

out ultimately is to provide a land bridge. how do you do that without u.s. forces on the ground? the implication is if you let t the kurdish forces provide the land bridge while u.s. provides cover for them. i would expect to see that perhaps in the weeks to come but it's not going to be an easy operation. you can look forward to a lot more air stieks by u.s. forces. that's the take away because it can't be done easily. >> reporting now from the white house on the north lawn. president obama about to take his vacation along with his family. he will be leaving momentarily. marine one taking him to martha's vineyard where he will spend his vacation with his family. the first family. again wrapping up what we have been talking about. the president giving remarks on the air strikes and air drops, humanitarian air drops going on in iraq right now. it's a long-term solution that

will not be quickly wrapped up. the president also giving notice to the iraqi government that they must come together in unity. i'm kelly wright. i'll see you back here at 1:00 p.m. for america's news headquaters. we're taking you back to forbes on fox for all your news headlines go to fox news.com. >> me. >> are you a citizen? >> yeah but does it really matter? >> not anymore unfortunately thank you. >> not anymore. it would be funny if it wasn't so serious and no one knows that better than the family of an off duty border agent in texas. murdered. his father wounded by two illegal immigrants confessing to it. now they're in jail but their wrap sheets showing multiple arrests and multiple deportations and now word of another attack on an agent in texas. is it time to seal our boarders no matter what the cost? hi everyone, welcome to fords on