House lawmakers gathered to assess the threat of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and its affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq the Levant (ISIL) as a new round of bombings rocked Baghdad, killing 33 people.
Al-Qaeda is now carrying out 40 mass attacks a month, in Iraq's bloodiest eruption of violence in six years and the worse since US troops withdrew in 2011, said House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce.
The militants were benefiting from "the alienation" of the country's Sunni population from its Shiite dominated government, which also has strong ties with the Shiite leaders in Iran.
"Al-Qaeda has become very skilled at exploiting this sectarian rift, and Maliki's power grab has given them much ammunition," Royce said, adding that the United States had a central role to play in helping the Iraqis fight the militants.
Also Read
But in a passionate outburst, his Republican colleague Representative Dana Rohrabacher questioned why the United States, which is supplying Iraq with helicopters and drones to help fight the militants, was still involved in the country.
"Thousands of people are losing their lives to this insanity. Why does the United States feel that we need to become part of this insanity?"
US deputy assistant secretary for Iraq Brett McGurk agreed: "The suicide bomber phenomenon, it is complete insanity."
But he said the United States, which invaded the country in 2003 to topple late dictator Saddam Hussein, had strategic interests to protect in the Middle East nation.
"In Iraq whether you like it or not, oil, Al-Qaeda, Iran , vital US interests are at stake," he said.