President Obama has announced plans to deploy about 275 U.S. military personnel back to Iraq amidst a widening crisis. In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama said the force will protect U.S. citizens and be equipped for combat. In their latest advance, Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have attacked and briefly taken control of parts of the city of Baquba, less than 40 miles from Baghdad. The Obama administration is reportedly weighing other options in Iraq, including drone strikes and the deployment of special forces to train Iraqi troops. The United States and Iran have spoken briefly about the crisis, but State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki ruled out any joint military action.

Jen Psaki: “I would remind you that we’ve had similar conversations in the past with Iran regarding Afghanistan. These consultations would be along those lines. We’re not talking about coordinating any military action in Iraq with Iran. We would encourage Iran to push the Iraqis to act to address problems in a nonsectarian way.”

We’ll have more on Iraq after headlines.