US: Saving Iraq from Islamic State could take 3 to 5 years

WASHINGTON - A high-ranking Obama administration official said Tuesday it could take at least three to five years for Iraq to overcome the Islamic State group's onslaught.

Even then, retired Navy Adm. John Kirby said the war effort "has to be owned by the Iraqis."

State Department spokesman John Kirby appeared on MSNBC a day after President Barack Obama acknowledged the US lacks a "complete strategy" for training Iraqi security forces. Asked if the current strategy is working, Kirby conceded "maybe the way we're going about that needs to be changed a little bit."

Kirby said the US and its allies could go "all in," but he said if the problem is viewed only in a military context, "it's still going to take three to five years. It's not going to happen overnight."