President Obama Authorizes Air Strikes Against Militants in Iraq
President Barack Obama announced Thursday night he had authorized the Pentagon to launch targeted airstrikes if needed to protect Americans from Islamic militants in northern Iraq and help Iraqi security forces protect civilians under siege, threatening to revive U.S. military involvement in the country’s long sectarian war.
In a televised late-night statement from the White House, Obama also said American military forces had already carried out airdrops of humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Iraqi religious minorities desperately in need of food and water.
“Today America is coming to help,” he declared.
More: President Obama Authorizes Air Strikes Against Militants in Iraq