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Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take their position along the front line with militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Demonstrating their growing independence from the rest of Iraq, the largely autonomous Kurdish regional government is setting up dirt barriers that it hopes ultimately will set the borders of a future state. (Associated Press)

Iraqi Kurds seek independence but with voice in Baghdad

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Kurdish Soldier Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

LYONS: A Kurdish opportunity

By James A. Lyons

This undated image posted by the Raqqa Media Center, a Syrian opposition group, on Monday, June 30, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. (AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center)

CIA blamed for Iraq intel failure, ISIS rise

By Bill Gertz - Washington Free Beacon

This undated file image posted on a militant website on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching in Raqqa, Syria. (AP Photo/Militant Website, File)

Iraq sends in helicopter gunships, launches operation to take back Tikrit from ISIL

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub - Associated Press

Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leading away captured Iraqi soldiers in Tikrit, Iraq in June. (AP Photo via militant website, File)

Iraq’s top cleric calls for deal on PM by Tuesday

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub - Associated Press

A destroyed Iraqi army humvee is left behind outside of the northern city of Mosul, Iraq, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, more than two weeks after the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic Sate of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took over the country's second largest city. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Mideast nations on Wednesday against taking new military action in Iraq that might heighten already-tense sectarian divisions, as reports surfaced that Syria launched airstrikes across the border and Iran has been flying surveillance drones over the neighboring country. (AP Photo)

Additional U.S. forces arriving in Iraq

By Maggie Ybarra - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Friday, March 26, 2010, file photo, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks to the press in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq's Vice President Khudeir al-Khuzaie called on parliament to convene on Tuesday, July 1, 2014, taking the first step toward forming a new government to present a united front against a rapidly advancing Sunni insurgency while Britain's top diplomat started an official visit to the country to urge the country's leaders to put their differences aside for the good of the nation. Al-Maliki's political bloc won the most seats in April 30 elections, but he needs support from other blocs to govern with a majority. His efforts to form a coalition have been complicated by the current crisis as critics blame his failure to promote national reconciliation for the Sunni anger fueling the insurgent gains and want him to step down. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

Iraq’s $1B parliamentary complex moves forward as nation implodes, ISIL advances

By Douglas Ernst - The Washington Times

In this photo taken Monday, June 23, 2014, fighters of the al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul, Iraq, more than two weeks after ISIL took over the country's second largest city. (AP Photo)

Iraq’s crisis threatens to turn into regional war

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

President Obama. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

White House to Congress: ISIL caught us by surprise

By Adam Kredo — The Washington Free Beacon

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki waits for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of their meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 23, 2014. Kerry is visiting Iraqi leaders to discuss the increasing violence and instability in country caused by insurgents including the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool)

Al-Maliki defiant: Iraqi Prime Minister rejects calls to form unity government

Associated Press

Members of an Iraqi volunteer force put on their newly issued boots in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has put on hold plans for a counteroffensive to retake Iraqi cities captured by Sunni insurgents in the north and west of the country, instead deploying elite forces in Baghdad to bolster its defenses. (Associated Press photographs)

Kurdish leader cites ‘new reality’ in Iraq, meets with Kerry

By Guy Taylor and Maggie Ybarra - The Washington Times

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Baghdad, Monday, June 23, 2014. Kerry flew to Baghdad on Monday to meet with Iraq's leaders and personally urge the Shiite-led government to give more power to political opponents before a Sunni insurgency seizes more control across the country and sweeps away hopes for lasting peace. (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool)

Baghdad surrounded: ‘Nightmare scenario’ unfolding as ISIL takes key supply routes

By Douglas Ernst - The Washington Times

Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, right, shakes hands for photographers with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the presidential palace in Irbil on Tuesday, June 24, 2014. The president of Iraq&#8217;s ethnic Kurdish region declared Tuesday that &#8220;we are facing a new reality and a new Iraq&#8221; as the country&#8217;s Shiite-led government considers new leadership as an immediate step to curb a Sunni insurgent rampage. The comments by Barzani came as he met with Kerry, who is pushing the central government in Baghdad to at least adopt new policies that would give more authorities to Iraq&#8217;s minority Sunnis and Kurds.(AP Photo/ Brendan Smialowski, Pool)

Kerry pushes back against independent Kurdish state

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, right, shakes hands for photographers with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the presidential palace in Irbil on Tuesday, June 24, 2014. The president of Iraq&#8217;s ethnic Kurdish region declared Tuesday that &#8220;we are facing a new reality and a new Iraq&#8221; as the country&#8217;s Shiite-led government considers new leadership as an immediate step to curb a Sunni insurgent rampage. The comments by Barzani came as he met with Kerry, who is pushing the central government in Baghdad to at least adopt new policies that would give more authorities to Iraq&#8217;s minority Sunnis and Kurds.(AP Photo/ Brendan Smialowski, Pool)

Kurdish leader cites ‘new reality’ in Iraq

By Lara Jakes - Associated Press

emissary: U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, left, met with U.S. Marines during his visit to the Baghdad Monday. Mr. Kerry told Iraqi leaders that any potential U.S. airstrikes in the country must specifically target ISIL to avoid Sunni civilian casualties. (associated press)

Pollster says Obama’s solution for Iraq must be all-inclusive

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 23, 2014. Kerry flew to Baghdad on Monday to meet with Iraq's leaders and personally urge the Shiite-led government to give more power to political opponents before a Sunni insurgency seizes more control across the country and sweeps away hopes for lasting peace. (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool)

John Kerry urges political reform in Iraq

By Lara Jakes and Hamza Hendawi - Associated Press

Members of the Iraqi security forces who have never left their positions stand guard at the entrance checkpoint of the Bansher district, 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Iraq, Friday, June 20, 2014. The poster at left shows Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Malik. Iraqi army and police forces battling them for months have been unable to take most areas back, and over the past week or so the militants have also taken over the cities of Mosul and Tikrit. (AP Photo/Emad Matti)

Top Shiite cleric calls for new government in Iraq

Associated Press

Iraqi civilians inspect damage in the aftermath of a Tuesday car bombing that killed many people and wounded tens of others in a crowded outdoor market, in Baghdad's Sadr City, Iraq, Wednesday, June 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

ISIL terrorists lay siege to Iraq’s largest oil refinery

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times

President Barack Obama meets with, from left, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 18, 2014. Obama briefed leaders of Congress on US options for blunting an Islamic insurgency in Iraq. US officials say Obama is not yet prepared to move forward with strikes and is instead focused on increased training for Iraq's security forces, boosting Iraqi intelligence capacities and upgrading equipment. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Obama, Congress mull Iraq options; GOP slams president’s waffling

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times