The Iraqi public will ultimately reject the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the extremist Sunni group threatening Iraq's government, but the group still represents a medium- and long-term threat to the United States, Obama said.
"We're going to have to be vigilant generally. Right now the problem with ISIS is the fact that they're destabilising the country," Obama said, using a common acronym for the group. "That could spill over into some of our allies like Jordan."
He pointed to the group Boko Haram in north Africa and al-Qaida groups in Yemen that he said also demand the attention of the US and its partners.
"What we can't do is think that we're just going to play whack-a-mole and send US troops occupying various countries wherever these organisations pop up," Obama said.
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"We're going to have to have a more focused, more targeted strategy and we're going to have to partner and train local law enforcement and military to do their jobs as well."
Obama has announced plans to send 300 special operations forces into Iraq to train its military, but insists the US military can't effectively quell the conflict unless Iraq's own Shiite-led government pursues a more inclusive approach that doesn't shun the Sunni minority.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul said the unwillingness of Iraq's military to defend the city of Mosul begs the question of why the United State should.
"I'm not willing to send my son to defend that mess," Paul said today on CNN.