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"WASHINGTON \u2014 The United State is deploying up to 275 military troops to Iraq to protect the U.S. Embassy and other American interests and is considering sending a contingent of special forces soldiers as Iraq struggles to repel a rampant insurgency, officials said Monday. The White House insisted anew the U.S. would not be sending combat troops and thrusting America into a new Iraq war.\nPresident Barack Obama, in a formal report to Congress, said the troops in in the deployment he was announcing would be equipped for combat and would remain in Iraq until the security situation improved. About 160 troops are already in Iraq, including 50 Marines and more than 100 Army soldiers. Some of those soldiers have only recently arrived.\nSee also: Militants in Iraq Post Images Showing Massacre of Soldiers\nUnder the authorization Obama outlined Monday, a U.S. official said, the U.S. would put an additional 100 soldiers in a nearby third country where they would be held in reserve until needed.\nThe White House issued the following letter on Monday:\n\nDear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)\nStarting on June 15, 2014, up to approximately 275 U.S. Armed Forces personnel are deploying to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat. This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed. \nThis action has been directed consistent with my responsibility to protect U.S. citizens both at home and abroad, and in furtherance of U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.\nI am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the Congress in these actions.\nSincerely,Barack Obama\n\nSeparately, U.S. officials emphasized that a possible limited special forces mission \u2014 which has not yet been approved \u2014 would focus on training and advising beleaguered Iraqi troops, many of whom have fled their posts across the nation's north and west as the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency has advanced in the worst threat to the country since American troops left in 2011.\nBut the plan suggests a willingness by Obama to send Americans into a collapsing security situation, though explicitly ruling out putting U.S. troops into direct combat in Iraq, and how far he might be willing to go to quell the brutal fighting in Iraq before it morphs into outright war.\nOn Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. is willing to talk with Iran over ways the two long-time foes might help stop the insurgents known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. It was Washington's first explicit overture to the Islamic Republic to jointly work on threats that confront Iraq, although U.S. officials quickly tamped down speculation that the discussion might include military coordination or consultation.\n\nThe Obama administration is willing to talk with Iran over deteriorating security conditions in Iraq, Secretary of State John Kerry said at the Our Ocean conference on June 16, 2014, at the State Department in Washington. Image: Lauren Victoria Burke/Associated PressIn an interview Monday with Yahoo! News, Kerry said the U.S. would \"not rule out anything that would be constructive\" but stressed that any contacts with Iran would move \"step-by-step.\"\nThe White House says the U.S. military personnel are entering Iraq with the consent of that country's government.\nLast Friday, Obama declared that \"we will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq.\" But he said the White House was considering other options to support Iraqi security forces. Three U.S. officials familiar with ongoing discussions on Monday said the potential of sending special forces to Iraq is high on a list of military options being considered.\nIt's not clear how quickly the special forces could arrive in Iraq. It's also unknown whether they would remain in Baghdad or be sent to the nation's north, where the Sunni Muslim insurgency has captured large swaths of territory collaring Baghdad, the capital of the Shiite-led government.\nThe mission almost certainly would be small: One U.S. official said it could be up to 100 special forces soldiers. It also could be authorized only as an advising and training mission \u2014 meaning the soldiers would work closely with Iraqi forces that are fighting the insurgency but would not officially be considered as combat troops.\nThe troops would fall under the authority of the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad and would not be authorized to engage in combat, another U.S. official said. Their mission would be \"non-operational training\" of both regular and counter terrorism units, which the military has in the past interpreted to mean training on military bases, the official said.\nSee also: After Taking 2 Cities, Militant Group Vows to March on to Baghdad\nHowever, all U.S. troops are allowed to defend themselves in Iraq if they are under attack. Already, about 100 Marines and Army soldiers have been sent to Baghdad to help with embassy security, according to a U.S. official.\nThe three U.S. officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the plans by name.\nObama made the end of the war in Iraq one of his signature campaign issues, and has touted the U.S. military withdrawal in December 2011 as one of his top foreign policy successes. But he has been caught over the past week between Iraqi officials pleading for help \u2014 as well as Republicans blaming him for the loss of a decade's worth of gains in Iraq \u2014 and his anti-war Democratic political base, which is demanding that the U.S. stay out of the fight.\nWhile the White House continues to review its options, Iran's military leaders are starting to step into the beach.\nThe commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, Gen. Ghasem Soleimani, was in Iraq on Monday and consulting with the government there on how to stave off insurgents' gains. Iraqi security officials said the U.S. government was notified in advance of the visit by Soleimani, whose forces are a secretive branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard that in the past has organized Shiite militias to target U.S. troops in Iraq and, more recently, was involved in helping Syria's President Bashar Assad in his fight against Sunni rebels.\nIn the short term, the U.S. and Iran both want the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stabilized and the Sunni-led insurgency stopped. But in the long run, the United States would like to see an inclusive, representative democracy take hold in Iraq, while predominantly Shiite Iran is more focused on protecting Iraq's Shiite population and bolstering its own position as a regional power against powerful Sunni Arab states in the Gulf.\nState Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said any discussion with Iran would concern ways that Iran could help press al-Maliki's government to be more inclusive and treat all of Iraq's religious and ethnic groups equally.\nAny talks with Iran \"would be to discuss the political component here and our interest in encouraging Iraqi leaders to act in a responsible, nonsectarian way,\" she told reporters. \"Certainly a discussion of that is something that we would be open to.\"\nUPDATE: On Monday, June 30, President Barack Obama announced that he was sending approximately 200 additional U.S. Armed Forces personnel to Iraq:\nDear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)  As I previously reported on June 16, 2014, U.S. Armed Forces personnel have deployed to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.  In light of the security situation in Baghdad, I have ordered up to approximately 200 additional U.S. Armed Forces personnel to Iraq to reinforce security at the U.S. Embassy, its support facilities, and the Baghdad International Airport. This force consists of additional security forces, rotary-wing aircraft, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support.  This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat. This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed.  This action has been directed consistent with my responsibility to protect U.S. citizens both at home and abroad, and in furtherance of U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.  I am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the Congress in these actions.   Sincerely,   BARACK OBAMA\nAdditional reporting from Mashable\n\n\nBaghdad This Week\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIraqis gather at the scene of an explosion by a suicide bomber who detonated explosives inside a tent where local Shiite tribal leaders were meeting in the Sadr City area of northern Baghdad on June 11, 2014. \n\nImage: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPeople clean up in the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City, Iraq, on June 11. \n\nImage: Karim Kadim/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTeenagers ride on an armored vehicle belonging to the Iraqi army in Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, on June 11. \n\nImage: Associated Press/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAn Iraqi refugee girl from Mosul stands outside her family's tent at Khazir refugee camp outside Irbil, 217 miles north of Baghdad, on June 11. \n\nImage: Associated Press/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIraqi refugees from Mosul arrive at Khazir refugee camp outside Irbil on June 11.\n\nImage: Associated Press/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAn Iraqi federal policeman stands guard as his colleague searches a car at a checkpoint in Baghdad on June 11.\n\nImage: Karim Kadim/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMore Iraqi federal policemen stand guard at the Baghdad checkpoint.\n\nImage: Karim Kadim/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIraqi Shiite mourners carry the coffin of a victim of attacks the previous day in Baghdad, on June 12, 2014, in the shrine city of Najaf, in central Iraq.\n\nImage: HAIDAR HAMDANI/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBarefooted Iraqi children stand outside a tent a temporary camp set up to shelter Iraqis fleeing violence in Iraq's northern Nineveh province in Aski kalak, on June 12.\n\nImage: SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRefugees fleeing from Mosul head to the self-ruled northern Kurdish region in Irbil on June 12.\n\nImage: Associated Press/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKurdish security forces deploy outside of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, on June 12.\n\nImage: Emad Matti/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA municipality bulldozer and people clean up trash from a street in the northern city of Mosul on June 13.\n\nImage: Associated Press/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKurdish Iraqi security forces patrol a street in Kirkuk on June 13 as jihadist militants push their offensive toward Baghdad. \n\nImage: MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nChildren play with an Iraqi Army helmet left behind after militants from ISIL took over Mosul on June 13.\n\nImage: Associated Press/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIraqi army troops chant slogans against ISIL as they recruit volunteers to join the fight against a major offensive by the jihadist group in northern Iraq.\n\nImage: ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA displaced Iraqi woman washes her family's laundry as the children shower outside their tent at a temporary camp set up to shelter civilians fleeing violence in Iraq's northern Nineveh province.\n\nImage: SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIraqi men who volunteered to join the fight against a major offensive by jihadists in northern Iraq climb on an army truck outside a recruiting center in Baghdad on June 13.\n\nImage: ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKurdish Iraqi security forces patrol a street in Kirkuk as jihadist militants push their offensive toward Baghdad on June 13.\n\nImage: MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIraqi men who volunteered to join the fight against a major attack by the jihadists in northern Iraq stand on army trucks heading towards the Iraqi town of Taji, on the outskirts of Baghdad, on June 13, 2014.\n\nImage: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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