"Today America is coming to help"
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:07 pm
Obama authorizes renewed airstrikes in Iraq
By JULIE PACE and ROBERT BURNS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama authorized U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq on Thursday night, warning they would be launched if needed to defend Americans from advancing Islamic militants and protect civilians under siege. His announcement threatened a renewal of U.S. military involvement in the country's long sectarian war.
In a televised late-night statement from the White House, Obama said American military planes already had carried out airdrops of humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Iraqi religious minorities surrounded by militants and desperately in need of food and water.
"Today America is coming to help," he declared.
The announcements reflected the deepest American engagement in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew in late 2011 after nearly a decade of war. Obama, who made his remarks in a steady and somber tone, has staked much of his legacy as president on ending what he has called the "dumb war" in Iraq.
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