U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pledges 'intense, sustained and effective' support for Iraq against ISIS

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry today Monday June 23,2014 pledged 'intense' support for Iraq against the 'existential threat' of the ISIS offensive pushing toward Baghdad from the north and west.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari escorts John Kerry to the meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki 

A view from the helicopter carrying U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry over Baghdad on his way to meet Iraqi prime minister

Flying in from Jordan, Kerry met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to urge a speeding up of the government formation process in order to face down the insurgents.

Help from the U.S. will be 'intense, sustained, and if Iraq's leaders take the steps needed to bring the country together, it will be effective,' Kerry told journalists in Baghdad.

But the danger to Iraq, he said, is dire.

'It is a moment of decision for Iraq's leaders,' Kerry said. 'Iraq faces an existential threat and Iraq's leaders have to meet that threat.'

During their talks, Maliki also emphasised the danger of the crisis, telling Kerry it 'represents a threat not only to Iraq but to regional and international peace,' his office said.

Maliki's security spokesman said Monday 'hundreds' of soldiers had been killed since the insurgents, led by the powerful jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), launched their offensive on June 9,2014

It came as Sunni militants have blitzed through the vast desert of western Iraq, capturing four towns and two border crossings and deepening the predicament of the Shi'ite-led government