Washington, July 1 (RHC)-- The United States is deploying another 300 U.S. troops to Iraq to protect the U.S. Embassy and other interests amid an onslaught by Sunni militants. The Pentagon says the move brings the total U.S. troop presence in Iraq to 750.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Chinese television Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry criticized the U.S. occupation of Iraq. He said that he was on record "not only in saying that it was a grave mistake, but in running against the president who ordered it."

The U.S. secretary of state said: "Yes, I think it was a grave mistake, and I think we are still working through many of the problems associated with it even today. There’s a huge residual hangover, a cloud that hangs over the region as a consequence of that decision."