WADOO!!NEWS: President Obama to bomb Iraq to save thousands of non-Muslims trapped on mountains and forced to starving to death or slaughter by ISIS (GRAPHIC PHOTOS)

Barack Obama last night authorised US airstrikes in northern Iraq to defend hundreds of thousands of non-Muslims being hunted down and slaughtered by ISIS hoards as he declared: ‘America is coming to help.’
His dramatic call to arms came as the chaos engulfing Iraq escalated rapidly last night with a re-energised Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant storming towns in the north, executing villagers and chasing thousands from their homes into the desert.
Already dozens of Yazidis – who ISIS have denounced as devil-worshippers because of their ancient set of beliefs which predate Christianity and Islam – have been murdered as the extremist fighters overran the town of Sinjar.
Up to 50,000 terrified Yazidis – half of them children – have sought refuge from the bloodshed in the surrounding mountains. But there they face another killer: searing desert heat and the constant threat of starvation.

Many have already died of hunger and thirst as they struggle to survive on just the food they could carry in temperatures exceeding 42C.
Photographs have emerged of Yazidi men carrying the bodies of dozens of young children apparently killed by ISIS militants, who in turn have posted pictures online of themselves posing next to dead Yazidi men.
The dead men’s wives were reportedly kept as trophies to be gifted to unmarried jihadist fighters.
In a televised late-night statement from the White House, Mr Obama said American warplanes had already carried out airdrops of food and water to the Iraqi Yazidis hiding in the mountains.
‘Today America is coming to help,’ he declared, adding: ‘The United States cannot and should not intervene every time there’s a crisis in the world.
‘So let me be clear about why we must act, and act now: when we face a situation like we do on that mountain — with innocent people facing the prospect of violence on a horrific scale, when we have a mandate to help . . . and when we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye.’

Yazidi Iraqis on Mount Sinjar carry the bodies of children killed by ISIS. ISIS has been ruthlessly hunting down and slaughtering members of the ancient Yazidi religion, a faith derived from Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam

An ISIS fighter poses next to a dead Yazidi. ISIS have denounced the Yazidis as devil-worshipers on account of their ancient set of beliefs and have issued them with an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a religious fine, flee their homes or face death

ISIS now control more than half the country as it ramped up its offensive, storming towns in the north, executing villagers and chasing thousands from their homes into the desert

ISIS fighters beat back the Kurdish peshmerga fighters – Iraq’s most formidable fighting force – who have thus far fought tirelessly to defend their northern heartland, but are becoming stretched thin across several fronts.
In what will be seen as a major coup for the extremist force, they also seized the Mosul Dam – Iraq’s largest – which places them in control of enormous power and water resources and access to the river that runs through the heart of Baghdad.
Panic even began to tear through the Kurdish capital of Erbil, long considered a safe haven, where civilians today flooded the airport in a futile attempt to buy tickets to the Iraqi capital.

And as shockwaves from the crisis reverberated around the world, oil companies began closing fields and evacuating staff from Kurdistan in a move that has caused shares to plummet.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis begged world leaders to help end the crisis, after Iraq’s largest Christian town was sacked sending tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing for their lives.
Yesterday ISIS captured Qaraqush and several others near Mosul following the withdrawal of Kurdish peshmerga fighters.
‘(The Christians) have fled with nothing but their clothes, some of them on foot, to reach the Kurdistan region,’ Patriarch Sako told AFP. ‘This is a humanitarian disaster; the churches are occupied, their crosses were taken down.’ He added that up to 1,500 manuscripts were burnt.

The Vatican said in a statement: ‘His Holiness addresses an urgent appeal to the international community to take action to end the humanitarian tragedy now underway, to act to protect those affected or threatened by violence and to provide aid, especially for the most urgent needs of the many who have been forced to flee and who depend on the solidarity of others.’

While Iraq’s Christian population has declined steeply since the end of the Iraq War, there are still some 450,000 – 1.2 per cent of the country – living there.

The rush of people expelled from their homes or fleeing violence has exacerbated Iraq’s already-dire humanitarian crisis, with some 200,000 Iraqis joining the 1.5 million people already displaced from violence this year.
Yesterday, the al-Qaida breakaway Islamic State posted a statement online confirming it had captured the Mosul Dam and vowing to continue ‘the march in all directions,’ as it expands its self-styled caliphate.
The group said it has seized a total of 17 Iraqi cities, towns and targets – including Qaraqush and Sinjar. Their statement could not be independently verified, but it was posted on a website frequently used by militants.
Obama’s announcements reflected the deepest American engagement in Iraq since US troops withdrew in late 2011 after nearly a decade of war.
Mr Obama, who made today’s remarks in a steady and sombre tone, has staked much of his legacy as president on ending what he has called the ‘dumb war’ in Iraq.

The president said the humanitarian airdrops were made at the request of the Iraqi government.

‘We thank Barack Obama,’ said Khalid Jamal Alber, from the religious affairs ministry in the semi-autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq.
In Baghdad, the Ministry of the Displaced also welcomed the aid drops. The ministry’s spokesman, Satar Nawrouz, said the drops came ‘just in time.’
Mindful of the public’s aversion to another lengthy war, Mr Obama acknowledged that the prospect of a new round of US military action would be a cause for concern among many Americans.

He vowed anew not to put American combat troops back on the ground in Iraq and said there was no US military solution to the crisis.

‘As commander in chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq,’ Mr Obama said.

Even so, he outlined a rationale for airstrikes if the Islamic State militants advance on American troops in the northern city of Erbil and the US consulate there in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

The troops were sent to Iraq earlier this year as part of the White House response to the extremist group’s swift movement across the border with Syria and into Iraq.

‘When the lives of American citizens are at risk, we will take action,’ Mr Obama said. ‘That’s my responsibility as commander in chief.’

He said he had also authorised the use of targeted military strikes if necessary to help the Iraqi security forces protect civilians.

The president spoke following a day of urgent discussions with his national security team.

He addressed the nation only after the American military aircraft delivering food and water to the Iraqis had safely left the drop site in northern Iraq.

Peshmerga Kurds show of their readiness to fight ISIS on streets of Kurdish capital Erbil last night. But their apparent confidence belied growing fears in the city, long considered a safe haven, where civilians began flooding the airport in a futile attempt to buy tickets to Baghdad

The Pentagon said the airdrops were performed by one C-17 and two C-130 cargo aircraft that together delivered a total of 72 bundles of food and water.

They were escorted by two F/A-18 fighters from an undisclosed air base in the region.

The planes delivered 5,300 gallons of fresh drinking water and 8,000 pre-packaged meals and were over the drop area for less than 15 minutes at a low altitude.

The president cast the mission to assist the Yazidis as part of the American mandate to assist around the world when the US has the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre.

In those cases, Mr Obama said, ‘we can act carefully and responsibly to prevent a potential act of genocide’.

Officials said the US was prepared to undertake additional humanitarian airdrops if necessary, though they did not say how quickly those missions could occur.

And today, David Cameron welcomed US President Obama’s decision to authorise airstrikes, saying the world must help religious minorities in Iraq who are under threat from the militants ‘in their hour of desperate need’ – but ruled out any British military intervention.
It is reported that dozens of people, mostly children, have died of hunger and thirst since ISIS fighters surrounded Mount Sinjar

A Yazidi girl rests on the ground as she flees with her family from the encroaching ISIS hoards

Villagers say food delivered by the Iraqi army by helicopters is insufficient and people are beginning to die of starvation and thirst in the extreme heat

Officials said, tens of thousands of Iraqis, mainly Yazidi and Christian families, living in Iraq’s Sinjar district bordering Syria were desperately trying to escape the country for fear of massacres by the militants

Iraqi Christians who fled the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kilometres east of the northern province of Nineveh, rest upon their arrival at the Saint-Joseph church in the Kurdish city of Arbil, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region

Instead, he said he had asked officials to look into what assistance the UK can provide.

In a statement on Friday morning, Mr Cameron said: ‘I welcome president Obama’s decision to accept the Iraqi government’s request for help and to conduct targeted US air strikes, if necessary, to help Iraqi forces as they fight back against Isil terrorists to free the civilians trapped on Mount Sinjar.

‘And I fully agree with the President that we should stand up for the values we believe in – the right to freedom and dignity, whatever your religious beliefs.’

A Downing Street spokeswoman said the UK was ‘not planning a military intervention’.

But Mr Cameron added: ‘I have tasked officials to urgently establish what more we can do to provide help to those affected, including those in grave need of food, water and shelter in the Sinjar area.’

U.S. administration officials said they believe unilateral US strikes would be consistent with international law in part because the Iraqi government has asked for Washington to take military action.

They also said Mr Obama had the constitutional authority to act on his own in order to protect American citizens.

Isis fighters reportedly gained control of this dam in Mosul, giving them power over the main water supply to Baghdad
Soldiers of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Shiite volunteers take position during fighting with ISIS fighters, in Amerly town, northeastern Baghdad. The Kurds, who suffered horrifically under Saddam Hussein, have exploited the recent crisis to grant themselves greater autonomy

But the Kurds have nonetheless fought tirelessly against the ISIS hoards in a desperate bid to protect their heartland and other religious denominations under threat

Still, there was no guarantee that the president’s threat of military strikes would actually be followed by action.
He similarly authorised strikes in Syria last summer after chemical weapons were deployed, but those attacks were never carried out, in part because of domestic political concerns and also because an international agreement to strip Syria of its stockpiles of the deadly gases.

The president has also faced persistent calls to take military action in Syria on humanitarian grounds, given that more than 170,000 people have been killed there.

Critics, including some Republicans in Congress, have argued that Mr Obama’s cautious approach to Syria has allowed the Islamic State group to flourish there, growing strong enough to move across the border with Iraq and make swift gains.

In light of the militants’ advances, Mr Obama sent about 800 US forces to Iraq earlier this year, with those troops largely split between joint operation centres in Baghdad and Erbil.

More than half are providing security for the embassy and US personnel. American service members also are involved in improving US intelligence, providing security cooperation and conducting assessments of Iraqi capabilities.

Officials said there were no plans to evacuate those Americans from Iraq but that the US was conducting enhanced intelligence flights over Erbil with both manned and unmanned aircrafts in order to monitor the deteriorating conditions.

If the president were to order actual airstrikes in Iraq, it is all but certain he would proceed without formal congressional approval.

Politicians left town last week for a five-week recess, and there was no sign that Congress was being called back.

 

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