The US in Iraq: Strategic Aid or Political Gesture?

In Baghdad today, US Secretary of State of John Kerry met face to face with the embattled Iraqi Prime Minister who agreed to form a new more inclusive government starting next week. The meeting comes at a time when the militant group ISIS shows no sign of stopping, as this weekend it seized more towns and key border posts. American officials aren’t calling it “boots on the ground,” but the first wave of US military advisers has arrived in Baghdad. Can they revive the scattered Iraqi army? Or is it up to Shiite militias? Could new intelligence soon lead to US air strikes?

Also, the Supreme Court rules on the EPA's authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and safety in the age of drones.

Banner Image: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (R) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meet at the Prime Minister's Office in Baghdad June 23, 2014. Kerry met Iraq's prime minister in Baghdad on Monday to push for a more inclusive government, even as Baghdad's forces abandoned the border with Jordan, leaving the entire Western frontier outside government control. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool