Obama Apologises For Playing Golf After Foley’s Death

President Barack Obama has admitted his decision to play a vacation round of golf immediately after addressing the murder of US journalist James Foley by Islamic State was a mistake.

The president said he had been forced to hold back tears when he spoke privately to the family of Foley, who was beheaded, but added that there was always the prospect of a "jarring" contrast between world events, and his own efforts to carve out a semblance of a normal life through recreation.

Obama was hammered in the press after being pictured smiling and enjoying his round of golf after making a public statement last month after Foley's death, while he was on vacation on the resort island of Martha's Vineyard.

He is expected to make a speech on Wednesday to lay out his "game plan" to deal with and ultimately defeat the Islamic State militants. Obama however warned that he was not going to wage another ground war in Iraq.