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WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he had authorized "targeted" U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in northern Iraq and military airdrops of humanitarian supplies to besieged religious minorities there to prevent a "potential act of genocide."
Speaking after meetings with his national security team, Obama - in his most significant response to the Iraq crisis – said he approved limited use of American air power to protect American personnel if Islamic State militants advance toward the Kurdish capital Arbil where they are based.
The airstrikes would be the first carried out by the U.S. military in Iraq since the withdrawal of its forces at the end of 2011, but Obama insisted he would not commit any ground forces and had no intention of letting the United States get dragged back into a war there.
Obama took action amid international fears of a humanitarian catastrophe engulfing tens of thousands of members of Iraq’s minority Yazidi sect driven out of their homes and stranded on Sinjar mountain under threat from rampaging militants of Islamic State, an al Qaeda splinter group. Many Iraqi Christians have also fled for their lives.
"We can act carefully and responsibly to prevent a potential act of genocide," Obama told reporters at the White House. "I've therefore authorized targeted airstrikes if necessary." REUTERS
Duane 3NE 2NR wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidi
Dizzy28 wrote:As it stands right now the US and Iran are basically on the same "team" for the time being. Irony or sweet irony.
civicman wrote:who controlling the oil fields now?
who needs that supply ?
Why no air strikes in bosnia?
Wuh bout Boko Haram?
Only talk about humanitarian this and that when it convenient
The US only steps in when it has some economic or political benefit.
Do some reading.
Fox news and company isnt doing research eh
A Navy official told Checkpoint that the two planes involved in Friday’s airstrikes were F/A-18F Super Hornets with Carrier Air Wing 8, of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The one squadron flying the “F” version of the Super Hornet on the Bush is the “Black Lions” of Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 213, also of Oceana.
Navy officials said Friday that the bombs were GBU-54s. The acronym stands for “guided bomb unit,” while the number designates it from other bombs. The powerful munitions are laser-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, with electronics in the nose that seek where the lasers are pointed. As pointed out on Checkpoint this morning, the pilots have the ability to set up laser guidance on their own, or with the help of another fighter pilot nearby.
A variety of other U.S. warships are in the Persian Gulf. They include the USS Philippine Sea, a cruiser, and the USS Roosevelt, a destroyer, both of which are operating with the USS George H.W. Bush as part of the Bush carrier strike group, a Navy official said.
The USS O’Kane, a destroyer, also is operating independently in the Persian Gulf, the official said. Another destroyer, the USS Arleigh Burke, is in the region, but was in port Friday in Bahrain.
maj. tom wrote:bullet the blue sky.
shady23 wrote:Don't know why the US is getting involved in these plagued countries again. Just let them kill out each other.
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