At least 20 people were killed and more than 40 were injured in a suicide car bomb at a police checkpoint in Baghdad. The attack occurred in Kadhimiyah, a primarily Shiite neighborhood, as sectarian violence in the country continues.

The Associated Press reports that a series of car bombings in Iraq's capital have killed at least 27 people.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, shadowy leader of the jihadist group that's taken over much of Iraq and self-appointed leader of the world's Muslims, made an unprecedented public appearance at the beginning of last week—and was promptly criticized for being a sheikh with a chic fashion watch.

President Obama announced today in a letter to Congress that he will send 200 more American troops to defend the American Embassy in Baghdad; 275 soldiers were deployed earlier this month. This is in addition to the 300 military advisers Obama sent to Iraq to help combat the rise of extremist Sunni militants.

According to a damning new report by the New York Times, a Blackwater project manager in Iraq threatened to kill a State Department official conducting a review of the security contractor. This threat was reportedly made just weeks before the 2007 shootings in Baghdad's Nisour Square, where Blackwater guards shot and killed 17 civilians.

Human Rights Watch confirmed Friday that 160 to 190 men were killed in mass executions by ISIS earlier this month in Iraq. ISIS posted pictures of the executions online, and HRW confirms today that they happened in at least two separate locations in Tikrit between June 11th and June 14th.

According to U.S. officials, Iran has been secretly sending surveillance drones over Iraq to help Shiite militias battle ISIS militants. The officials also said Iran has been supplying Iraq with up to 140 tons of military equipment per day.

Syrian warplanes reportedly crossed Iraq's western border on Tuesday and attacked areas in the Anbar province, killing at least 57 civilians and wounding 120. According to a U.S. official, the attacks were meant to target the ISIS militants who have taken control of much of the border between Iraq and Syria.

"Iraq is not our neighbor, ISIS is our neighbor," a Kurdish government official tells VICE. The Kurds have staked out their real estate and apparently come to an understanding with the Islamists to their south. The nation of Iraq is fast becoming a political fiction, in much the way it began.

Lionel Messi, the Argentine soccer superstar, reportedly got online accolades for his World Cup heroism this weekend from the Islamic militants rapidly taking over Iraq—along with an invitation to "join the jihadist call," according to news reports.

The U.N. reports that at least 1,075 people — 757 of them civilians — have been killed in Iraq in June. U.N. spokesman Rupert Colville noted Tuesday that 1,075 "should be viewed very much as a minimum."

After meeting with Iraqi leaders today in Baghdad, Secretary of State John Kerry said that as ISIS grows more powerful in Iraq, the U.S. is less inclined to wait for a political solution to the crisis before taking military action.

ISIS militants seized three more towns in the Iraqi province of Anbar Sunday as the group continues its fight toward Baghdad. These conquests give the militants control over a large stretch of borderland between Iraq and Syria and within striking distance of Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Since taking Mosul earlier this month, the Islamic militant group ISIS has robbed banks, committed mass executions, and burned oil refineries as Iraq slides closer and closer to all-out war. According to NYPD counterterrorism chief John Miller, New Yorkers and other Americans are marching in their ranks.

After breaking Iraq, America is now faced with the question of whether we bought it. As Iraq slides further into chaos, complex choices must be weighed. Does that mean that it's time to stop "the blame game" over how we got here?

A car bombing has killed at least 37 civilians and wounded 50 in a government-held area near the city of Hama in Syria this morning. This is the second car bombing in two days — one killed three people yesterday near Homs.

President Obama announced this afternoon that he will send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq to help government forces with intelligence as they combat ISIS militants. He was abundantly clear that these troops will not engage in combat: "American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again," he said.

Sunni militants hung their black banners over the watchtowers of the Baiji oil refinery early this morning, according to the Associated Press. The facility, just 140 miles north of Baghdad, is still contested by Iraqi officials, who claim the government is in control and that the militants have retreated.

Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, appearing on al-Arabiya television today, officially asked the U.S. to intervene in the country's fight against ISIS: "We request the United States to launch air strikes against militants." The insurgents attacked Iraq's largest oil refinery last night.

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria attacked Iraq's largest oil refinery last night, reportedly setting as many as 17 storage tanks on fire. The Iraqi army claimed it fought off the militants, killing 40, though reports from refinery workers indicate that the ISIS remains in control of the Baiji plant, which is located just 140 miles north of Baghdad.