President Barack Obama does not need approval from Congress to begin airstrikes to stem the Iraqi crisis, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.
"The president does not need any additional congressional authority to act upon measures for our national security," the California Democrat said,
Politico reports.
She added that she, like Obama, did not support putting "boots on the ground."
"Generally speaking, I think that you have to be careful about sending special forces, because it’s a number that has a tendency to grow, because I would like to see the context, purpose, timeline and the rest for anything like that," Pelosi told Politico.
On Wednesday, Obama met with Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and with Republicans House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss the Iraqi crisis.
Pelosi's comments came before Obama announced on Thursday that he was sending
up to 300 military advisers to help quell the rising insurgency in Baghdad. He called on Iraqi leaders to govern with a more "inclusive agenda" to ensure the country does not descend into civil war.
Obama did not specifically mentioning airstrikes and ruled out sending troops. He did, however, leave open the possibility of "targeted" military action in the future.
He said the U.S. also would increase its intelligence efforts in Iraq and was creating joint operations centers with Iraqis.
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