WAR IN A BABYLON: 'WE WILL MARCH TOWARD BAGHDAD'....Militants: 'We Have An Account To Settle There'... Obama: Won't Rule Out Anything... Senior Official: 'No Boots On The Ground'... EARLIER: Fighters Seize Saddam Hussein's Hometown... Iraqi Kurds Seize Oil-Rich City Of Kirkuk... Iraq Asked U.S. For Airstrikes... Senior U.S. Official: 'It Makes You Want To Kill Yourself'... MAP: Where ISIS Is Gaining... 'By Invading, Occupying And Looting Iraq, Bush And Cheney Brought Al-Qaeda Into The Country'... LIVE UPDATES...

BAGHDAD (AP) — The al-Qaida-inspired group that led this week's charge in capturing two key Sunni-dominated cities in Iraq vowed Thursday to march on to Baghdad, raising fears about the Shiite-led government's ability to slow the assault following lightning gains.

War in Iraq...When Will It End?

Signs emerged that the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant is backed in its campaign by former military officers and other members of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's regime — including a force led by Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the late leader's former deputy who escaped the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and eluded U.S. and Iraqi forces ever since.

As world leaders expressed alarm over the destabilization of large parts of the country by fighters from the militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the U.N. Security Council met on the crisis, but there is little prospect of any action by the body.

President Barack Obama said Iraq will need more help from the United States, but he did not specify what it would be willing to provide. Senior U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter by name said Washington is considering whether to conduct drone missions in Iraq.

In the north, Kurdish security forces took over an air base and other posts abandoned by the Iraqi military in ethnically mixed Kirkuk, a senior official with the Kurdish forces said. He denied they had taken over the oil-rich city.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked parliament this week to declare a state of emergency that would give him increased powers to run the country, but the lawmakers Thursday failed to assemble a quorum to do so. more