Boehner: Obama 'took a nap' on Iraq

WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- With the news that a terrorist group has seized control of major parts of western Iraq, the conversation in Washington has turned to whether U.S. military forces left too soon, and what should be done now.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terrorist group so extreme it was even disavowed by al-Qaida, took over parts of Tikrit and Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city this week, sending thousands fleeing.

House Speaker John Boehner placed the blame squarely on President Obama for ignoring the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant's incursions into Iraq from over the Syrian border, accusing him of bungling U.S. foreign policy across the Middle East.

"It's not like we haven't seen this problem coming for over a year," Boehner said, noting that he urged Obama to intercede back in January.

"It's not like we haven't seen, over the last five or six months these terrorists moving in and taking control of western Iraq," he continued.

"Now they've taken control of Mosul, they're 100 miles from Bagdhad," he said. "And what's the president doing? Taking a nap."

The president has said that the U.S. would be providing military equipment and while he said he would "not rule anything out" in terms of assistance, the White House later added there would be "no boots on the ground."