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Obama Authorizes Limited Airstrikes in Iraq Obama Allows Limited Airstrikes in Iraq
(38 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — President Obama said Thursday that United States military aircraft had dropped food and water to thousands of Iraqis besieged by Islamic militants on a mountaintop in northern Iraq. WASHINGTON — President Obama on Thursday announced that he had authorized targeted American airstrikes against Islamic militants in Iraq, scrambling to avert the fall of the Kurdish capital of Erbil and returning the United States to a significant battlefield role in Iraq for the first time since the last American soldier left the country at the end of 2011.
Speaking from the State Dining Room at the White House, the president said he had directed the United States military forces to conduct targeted airstrikes on the militants if they moved to take Erbil, threatening the American citizens and military personnel there.  Speaking at the White House on Thursday night, Mr. Obama also said that American military aircraft had dropped food and water to tens of thousands of Iraqis trapped on a barren mountain range in northwestern Iraq, having fled the militants, from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, who threaten them with what Mr. Obama called “genocide.”
And he said that at the request of the Iraqi government, he had authorized the military to use airstrikes to help provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi citizens, many of them religious minorities, who are trapped on the mountain.  “Earlier this week, one Iraqi cried that there is no one coming to help,” Mr. Obama said  in a televised statement delivered from the State Dining Room. “Well, today America is coming to help.”
“When we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I think the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye,” Mr. Obama said. But he also declared that he had run for the presidency in part to end America’s involvement in the Iraq war, and he repeated his promise that the United States would not send ground troops back to that country.  The president insisted the twin military operations did not amount to a full-scale re-engagement in Iraq. But the relentless advance of the militants, whom he described as “barbaric,” has put them within a 30-minute drive of Erbil, raising an immediate danger for the American diplomats, military advisers and other citizens who are based there.
“I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq,” he said.  “As commander in chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into another war in Iraq,” said Mr. Obama, who defined himself during his run for the presidency in large part around his opposition to the war in Iraq.
Mr. Obama said those stranded on the mountain were subject to “barbaric” treatment by ISIS and were threatened with a mass execution “which would constitute a genocide.”  While Mr. Obama has authorized airstrikes, there had not yet been any as of late Thursday. But a senior administration official said after the speech that as conditions in Iraq deteriorated in recent days, the United States had worked with Iraqi security forces and Kurdish fighters to coordinate the response to ISIS advances. The official said the cooperation had included airstrikes by Iraqi forces against ISIS targets in the north.
The religious minorities, he said, were faced with the choice of: “Descend the mountain and be slaughtered, or stay and slowly die of thirst and hunger.” Kurdish and Iraqi officials said that airstrikes were carried out Thursday night on two towns in northern Iraq seized by ISIS — Gwer and Mahmour, near Erbil. The New York Times on its website Thursday quoted Kurdish and Iraqi officials as saying that the strikes were carried out by American planes.
While the United States “cannot and should not intervene” every time there’s a crisis in the world, the president said, the current circumstances in Iraq — civilians facing the threat of mass violence, a request by the Iraqis for help, and the American capability to prevent slaughter — warrant action. The cargo planes assigned to dropping food and water over the mountainside were one C-17 and two C-130 aircraft. They were escorted by a pair of F-18 jet-fighters, the official said. The cargo aircraft were over the drop zone for about 15 minutes, and flew at a relatively low altitude, the official said.
“Today, America is coming to help,” he said. For Mr. Obama, who has steadfastly avoided being drawn into the sectarian furies of the Middle East, the decision raises a host of thorny questions, injecting the American military into Iraq’s broader political struggle — something Mr. Obama said he would not agree to unless Iraq’s three main ethnic groups agreed on a national unity government. 
Kurdish and Iraqi officials said that American airstrikes had begun Thursday night on towns in northern Iraq seized by ISIS, but Pentagon officials denied that United States forces had begun a bombing campaign. They said it was possible that allies of the United States, either the Iraqi or Turkish militaries, had conducted the bombing.  The decision could also open Mr. Obama to charges that he is willing to use American military might to protect Iraqi Christians and other religious minorities but not to prevent the slaughter of Muslims by other Muslims, either in Iraq or neighboring Syria.
Kurdish officials said the bombings had initially targeted ISIS fighters who had seized two towns, Gwer and Mahmour, near the main Kurdish city of Erbil. But the president said the imminent threat to Erbil and the dire situation unfolding on Mount Sinjar met both his criteria for deploying American force: protecting American lives and assets, and averting a humanitarian disaster.
For the president, airstrikes would also mark an abrupt turning point in his Iraq strategy. Administration officials insisted that they still had no plans to put ground troops in the country, but analysts said that any kind of military action would open the door for a far bigger American role in the conflict between the Iraqi government and the militant group. “When we have the unique capacity to avert a massacre, the United States cannot turn a blind eye,” he said.
Mr. Obama has been reluctant to order direct military action in Iraq while Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki remains in office, but in recent weeks there have been repeated pleas from the Kurdish officials for weapons and assistance as ISIS militants have swept across northwestern Iraq. The militants, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, view Iraq’s majority Shiite and minority Christians and Yazidis, a Kurdish religious group, as infidels.Mr. Obama has been reluctant to order direct military action in Iraq while Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki remains in office, but in recent weeks there have been repeated pleas from the Kurdish officials for weapons and assistance as ISIS militants have swept across northwestern Iraq. The militants, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, view Iraq’s majority Shiite and minority Christians and Yazidis, a Kurdish religious group, as infidels.
Deliberations at the White House went on all day Thursday as reports surfaced that administration officials were considering either humanitarian flights, airstrikes or both. Administration officials did not say when the flights would begin. Deliberations at the White House went on all day Thursday as reports surfaced that administration officials were considering either humanitarian flights, airstrikes or both.
Shortly after 6 p.m., the White House posted a photo of Mr. Obama consulting his national security team in the Situation Room. To his right was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey. Watching from across the table were Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser, and her principal deputy, Antony J. Blinken. On the wall behind them, the clock recorded the time: 10:37 a.m.Shortly after 6 p.m., the White House posted a photo of Mr. Obama consulting his national security team in the Situation Room. To his right was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey. Watching from across the table were Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser, and her principal deputy, Antony J. Blinken. On the wall behind them, the clock recorded the time: 10:37 a.m.
Mr. Obama made only one public appearance, a rushed visit to Fort Belvoir, Va., where he signed into law a bill expanding access to health care for veterans. But aides suggested he might make a statement Thursday night. Before getting into his limousine, Mr. Obama was observed holding an intense conversation with his chief of staff, Denis R. McDonough, stabbing his finger several times for emphasis. Minutes after signing the bill and shaking a few hands, he rushed back to his limousine and returned to the White House.Mr. Obama made only one public appearance, a rushed visit to Fort Belvoir, Va., where he signed into law a bill expanding access to health care for veterans. But aides suggested he might make a statement Thursday night. Before getting into his limousine, Mr. Obama was observed holding an intense conversation with his chief of staff, Denis R. McDonough, stabbing his finger several times for emphasis. Minutes after signing the bill and shaking a few hands, he rushed back to his limousine and returned to the White House.
Later, the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, confirmed that Mr. Obama was weighing action in Iraq and warned about the danger of a humanitarian catastrophe. But he declined to offer any details about a potential military operation, prompting a storm of questions about why, if the danger was so dire, Mr. Obama was not acting immediately.Later, the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, confirmed that Mr. Obama was weighing action in Iraq and warned about the danger of a humanitarian catastrophe. But he declined to offer any details about a potential military operation, prompting a storm of questions about why, if the danger was so dire, Mr. Obama was not acting immediately.
Administration officials said on Thursday that the crisis on Sinjar Mountain in northern Iraq had forced their hand. Some 40 children have already died from the heat and dehydration, according to Unicef, while as many as 40,000 people have been sheltering in the bare mountains without food, water or access to supplies.Administration officials said on Thursday that the crisis on Sinjar Mountain in northern Iraq had forced their hand. Some 40 children have already died from the heat and dehydration, according to Unicef, while as many as 40,000 people have been sheltering in the bare mountains without food, water or access to supplies.
Once Mr. Obama made the decision to approve the humanitarian airdrops on Thursday, administration officials said, the decision for airstrikes became more likely. For one thing, the American C-130 planes that would be likely to drop the food and medical supplies fly low and heavy, and would release the supplies from 500 to 1,200 feet.Once Mr. Obama made the decision to approve the humanitarian airdrops on Thursday, administration officials said, the decision for airstrikes became more likely. For one thing, the American C-130 planes that would be likely to drop the food and medical supplies fly low and heavy, and would release the supplies from 500 to 1,200 feet.
Forces with ISIS are not believed to have surface-to-air missiles, but they do have machine guns that could hit the planes at that altitude, according to James M. Dubik, a retired Army lieutenant general who oversaw the training of the Iraqi Army in 2007 and 2008.Forces with ISIS are not believed to have surface-to-air missiles, but they do have machine guns that could hit the planes at that altitude, according to James M. Dubik, a retired Army lieutenant general who oversaw the training of the Iraqi Army in 2007 and 2008.
“These are low and slow aircraft,” General Dubik said. At the very minimum, he said, the United States would have to be prepared for “some defensive use of air power to prevent” the militant group from attacking American planes, or going after the humanitarian supplies themselves.“These are low and slow aircraft,” General Dubik said. At the very minimum, he said, the United States would have to be prepared for “some defensive use of air power to prevent” the militant group from attacking American planes, or going after the humanitarian supplies themselves.
Military officials have also repositioned satellites for surveillance. The risk to the American crew of the C-130 planes conducting the humanitarian mission “would be much higher if we did not have improved reconnaissance and a protective air capacity,” General Dubik said.Military officials have also repositioned satellites for surveillance. The risk to the American crew of the C-130 planes conducting the humanitarian mission “would be much higher if we did not have improved reconnaissance and a protective air capacity,” General Dubik said.
If ordered, the Air Force could use both drones and F-16 fighter jets that are already deployed in the region, while the Navy could use F-18 fighters as well, military officials said.If ordered, the Air Force could use both drones and F-16 fighter jets that are already deployed in the region, while the Navy could use F-18 fighters as well, military officials said.
But it is one thing to use air power to defend a humanitarian operation. Offensive strikes on ISIS targets in northern Iraq would take American involvement in the conflict to a new level, demonstrating deep concern with ISIS’s offensive shift toward the Kurds.But it is one thing to use air power to defend a humanitarian operation. Offensive strikes on ISIS targets in northern Iraq would take American involvement in the conflict to a new level, demonstrating deep concern with ISIS’s offensive shift toward the Kurds.
Ever since Sunni militants with ISIS took over Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, on June 10, Iraqis have feared that Baghdad, to the south, was the insurgents’ goal. But in recent weeks, the militant group has concentrated on trying to push the Kurds back from areas where Sunnis also live along the border between Kurdistan and Nineveh Province. It has taken on the powerful Kurdish militias, which were thought to be a bulwark against the advance, and which control huge oil reserves in Kurdistan and broader parts of northern Iraq.Ever since Sunni militants with ISIS took over Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, on June 10, Iraqis have feared that Baghdad, to the south, was the insurgents’ goal. But in recent weeks, the militant group has concentrated on trying to push the Kurds back from areas where Sunnis also live along the border between Kurdistan and Nineveh Province. It has taken on the powerful Kurdish militias, which were thought to be a bulwark against the advance, and which control huge oil reserves in Kurdistan and broader parts of northern Iraq.
On Thursday, one Kurdish official said in an interview that Kurdish troops had pulled back in the expectation that there would be airstrikes, perhaps by Turkey and the United States. President François Hollande of France pledged his country’s support to forces battling the militant group as well.On Thursday, one Kurdish official said in an interview that Kurdish troops had pulled back in the expectation that there would be airstrikes, perhaps by Turkey and the United States. President François Hollande of France pledged his country’s support to forces battling the militant group as well.