US lawmakers warn of 'next 9/11' threat in Iraq

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama came under fire Sunday from Republican lawmakers and others who warned that a debacle in Iraq will give Islamist extremists a staging area for "the next 9/11."

Senator Lindsey Graham, a proponent of US air strikes, also called for the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and direct US engagement with Iran on the crisis set off this week by a lightning offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group.