Obama sends 350 more troops to Iraq

President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered about 350 more US troops to Baghdad to safeguard American diplomats in the Iraqi capital, increasing the US military presence to more than 1,000 forces.

The move came after Islamic State (IS) killed a second American reporter on Tuesday, and after a request last month from the State Department for additional US troops to bolster security for the US embassy and other facilities in Iraq.

US aircraft have been bombing IS militants in Iraq since August 8, particularly around the Mosul dam in the north, and Washington already has deployed hundreds of troops.

"The president authorized the Department of Defense to fulfil a Department of State request for approximately 350 additional US military personnel to protect our diplomatic facilities and personnel in Baghdad, Iraq," the White House said in a statement.

The United States will "continue to support the government of Iraq's efforts to counter ISIL, which poses a threat not only to Iraq, but to the broader Middle East and US personnel and interests in the region," it said.

Obama said Washington "will be consulting this week with NATO allies regarding additional actions to take against ISIL and to develop a broad-based international coalition to implement a comprehensive strategy to protect our people and to support our partners in the fight against ISIL."

The latest troop deployment brings the number of forces devoted to security for US diplomats in Iraq to 820, the Pentagon said. An additional 300 troops are serving as "advisors" to Iraqi security forces, for a total footprint of more than 1,000 troops.

Under the president's decision, about 400 troops will head to Baghdad and about 55 forces that have been on the ground will rotate out of the country, officials said.

The additional US forces will come from bases in the Middle East and will include a headquarters element, medical personnel, an air liaison team and a number of helicopters, according to Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.

The troop deployment is designed "to provide a more robust and sustainable security presence to help the Department of State continue their critical mission," Kirby said in a statement.

The troop decision was announced with little fanfare in emails to reporters, instead of at White House or Pentagon briefings in front of television cameras.

Obama was elected in 2008 on a promise to end the US war in Iraq and he touted the departure of all US forces from the country in 2011 when he ran for re-election in 2012.

But the onslaught of the IS militants has prompted a reluctant Obama to reverse course, sending in troops and ordering air strikes to try to counter the advance of the group.

Video footage

In the latest footage, the 31-year-old reporter Steven Sotloff calmly addresses the camera to say he is a victim of Obama's decision to press on with air strikes in Iraq against the militants.

At the end of the five-minute video recording, discovered online by the SITE monitoring group and seen by AFP, the militant threatens another captive, identified as British citizen David Cawthorne Haines.

"I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State," the militant says.

This was a reference to a video issued last month in which US journalist James Foley was murdered, again by a suspected British foreign fighter, and in almost identical fashion.

The fighter condemned recent US air strikes on the area around the Mosul Dam in Iraq, dating the footage after the 40-year-old Foley's killing.

"So just as your missiles continue to strike the necks of our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people," he declared.

In a warning to Britain, the killer declared: "We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone."

The Sotloff family, who live in Miami, issued a statement through a spokesman, Barak Barfi, that implicitly confirmed the video as authentic.

"The family knows of this horrific tragedy and is grieving privately. There will be no public comment from the family during this difficult time," it said.

Speaking in New Zealand, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday the world was outraged at the apparent beheading.

"I strongly condemn all such despicable crimes and I refuse to accept that whole communities can be threatened by atrocities because of who they are or what they believe," Ban said.