Obama vows to save Iraqis stranded on mountain

[Lite Beer]

Obama vows to save Iraqis stranded on mountain

 

US President Barack Obama vows to rescue civilians on Iraqi mountain. Photo Russavia.

 

ARBIL: US President Barack Obama vowed on Saturday (August 9) to help rescue thousands of civilians besieged by jihadists on an Iraqi mountain, as an MP warned they would not survive much longer.

He gave no timetable for the first US operation in Iraq since the last American troops withdrew three years ago and put the onus on Iraqi politicians to form an inclusive government and turn the tide on jihadist expansion.

"The United States can't just look away. That's not who we are. We're Americans. We act. We lead. And that's what we're going to do on that mountain," Obama said.

The United States has conducted multiple air strikes since Friday (August 8), and announced a wave of strikes on Saturday it said were to defend attacks on members of the Yazidi minority, who have been stranded on Mount Sinjar since they fled Islamic State attacks on their homes a week ago.

US and Iraqi aircraft have also air dropped food and water to the thousands of people, many of them Yazidi civilians, stranded on the mountain.

France and Britain announced that aid consignments of their own were imminent.

Two Royal Air Force (RAF) C-130 transport planes took off from Britain Saturday carrying reusable filtration containers filled with clean water, tents, tarpaulins and solar lights that can also recharge mobile phones.

Amid reports that the children and elderly among them were already dying, Obama justified the decision to intervene Thursday with the risk of an impending genocide against the Yazidis.

Yazidi MP Vian Dakhil, whose poignant appeal in parliament this week made her the public voice of her community, said time was running out.

"We have one or two days left to help these people. After that they will start dying en masse," she said.

The Yazidis, who worship a figure many Muslims associate with the devil, are a small and closed community, one of Iraq's most vulnerable minorities.

A first day of US air raids targeted fighters who had moved within striking distance of Kurdistan, while the second day US planes and drones hit armored personnel carriers and an armed truck the Pentagon said were attacking Yazidi civilians near Sinjar.

The first US bombings struck IS positions and at least one convoy of vehicles carrying militants west of Arbil.

The strikes prompted a top Kurdistan official to say the time had come for a fightback - but there was no immediate sign that was happening.

Security sources and a local official said the bodies of 16 Sunni extremists killed in Makhmur, where IS positions were bombed on Friday and fighting with peshmerga also took place, had been buried nearby on Saturday.

Obama said he had authorised the strikes in Iraq to protect US personnel serving there. "And, if necessary, that's what we will continue to do," he said on Saturday.

Federal and Kurdish officials, who had been at loggerheads since IS fighters launched their offensive exactly two months ago that has brought Iraq to the brink of partition, have said they were now working together and with US advisers.

But it remained unclear how much longer and how much deeper inside Iraq US warplanes would intervene and Obama stressed the real game-changer would be the much-delayed formation of an inclusive government.

Many Iraqis see Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as partly responsible for the conflict by institutionalising sectarianism.

Washington, Tehran, the Shiite religious leadership and much of his own party have pulled their support but he has dug his heels in and apparently not yet given up on seeking a third term.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, on Saturday alluded to Maliki when he complained, "there were some people who do not want the good of the country."

He was being quoted by Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako, whose community was displaced on an unprecedented scale this week.

Up to 100,000 Christians were forced to flee from their homes in a matter of hours on Thursday (August 7) completely emptying the country's largest Christian city Qaraqosh of its population.

Among the hundreds of thousands of people who fled their homes in northern Iraq were several other minorities such as the Shabak and Turkmen Shiites.

UNESCO chief Irina Bokova called it an "emerging cultural cleansing".

"The US should strike Sinjar, even if there are civilian casualties. It's better than letting everyone die," the Yazidi MP, Vian Dakhil, said.

Obama said he was confident the US could prevent IS fighters "from going up the mountain and slaughtering the people who are there" but added the next step of creating a safe passage was "logistically complicated".

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is providing emergency care to around 4,000 people who crossed safely into neighbouring Syria.

"They suffer from dehydration, sunstroke and some of them are seriously traumatised," the IRC's Suzanna Tkalec said, adding that many had walked all day for several days.

 

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/obama-vows-to-save-iraqis-stranded-on-mountain-47774.php

 

[pn]2014-08-10[/pn]

[Ulysses G.]

Good for him!

 

I just hope that he steps up the air strikes against ISIS. IMO, we need to start arming and training the Kurds in a BIG way. They really do seem to be some of the few good guys in that part of the world. 

[TVGerry]

I hope this isn't one of his many empty promises.

[Chicog]

Good for him!

 

I just hope that he steps up the air strikes against ISIS. IMO, we need to start arming and training the Kurds in a BIG way. They really do seem to be some of the few good guys in that part of the world. 

 

Might cost you Incirlik and Izmir, so best to tread very carefully on that one.

[Local Drunk]

Has the President grow a pair? "We're Americans. We act. We lead. And that's what we're going to do on that mountain," 

 

Be it for good or bad... That's the way Americans think. 

 

I like it!

 

[BrewersDroop]

'We are America... We act, we lead'.

 

You need a reality check pal.

[iReason]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

 

'We are America... We act, we lead'.

 

You need a reality check pal.

Ok.

Lay your version of "reality" out.

And what have you been leading lately?

[AlexRRR]

'We are America... We act, we lead'.

 

You need a reality check pal.

 

Must be some god dam oil under that hill

[Kalebiran]

Admire Obama for opposing the crazy invasion of Iraq as a senator and voting against it in 2003 . he's left with the crap on his watch as with Afghanistan.But think about why Bush went in Afghan,.....to stop terrorists building up to attack the US. Now this group have an aim to do a Khmer like Cambodia year zero in Iraq as a precursor to more attacks in the west. Sadaam was the best worst option.

[chuckd]

Admire Obama for opposing the crazy invasion of Iraq as a senator and voting against it in 2003 . he's left with the crap on his watch as with Afghanistan.But think about why Bush went in Afghan,.....to stop terrorists building up to attack the US. Now this group have an aim to do a Khmer like Cambodia year zero in Iraq as a precursor to more attacks in the west. Sadaam was the best worst option.

 

Obama voting against the Iraq war resolution in 2003 was more remarkable than you think.

 

In 2003 Obama was a member of the Illinois state senate...NOT the US Senate.

 

He had no vote whatsoever.

 

Bet you learned your history at Lavizan campus.

[ggt]

If you like your insurance...you can keep your insurance...

 

If you like you doctor...you can keep your doctor...

 

Obama care will actually save you thousands of dollars...

 

All bald face lies...

 

Obama's popularity and believability...are at an all time low...

 

No one believes him anymore...

[Chicog]

If you like your insurance...you can keep your insurance...

 

If you like you doctor...you can keep your doctor...

 

Obama care will actually save you thousands of dollars...

 

All bald face lies...

 

Obama's popularity and believability...are at an all time low...

 

No one believes him anymore...

 

40% do. And that's double the number that believe House Republicans.

 

Just sayin' like.

[chuckd]

 

If you like your insurance...you can keep your insurance...

 

If you like you doctor...you can keep your doctor...

 

Obama care will actually save you thousands of dollars...

 

All bald face lies...

 

Obama's popularity and believability...are at an all time low...

 

No one believes him anymore...

 

40% do. And that's double the number that believe House Republicans.

 

Just sayin' like.

 

 

You need some new material.

[Aussieroaming]

I'm going to have to reply to this with a confused and puzzled question mark.

Firstly ISiS seem to be animals and the Yazikis need help.....but so to Syrians, Palestinians and numerous other ethic groups around the globe.

Someone tell me what make the Yazidis so "special" that the American President and the Vatican have recognised them. I don't mean this in a derogatory way, but the Yazidis seem to represent a minority religion that the US and the Vatican feel needs preservation. They live in a very ancient area so I'm asking is there any underlying reasons I don't understand here that makes them so valuable.

America says they can't just look away, when in fact they do that regularly. I'm glad someone's helping the Yazides, but I don't know why they are the chosen people.

[Tchooptip]

 

'We are America... We act, we lead'.

 

You need a reality check pal.

 

Must be some god dam oil under that hill

 

I wil not comment just have a look at " that hill"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_3Z6ur2rOY

[Chicog]

 

 

If you like your insurance...you can keep your insurance...

 

If you like you doctor...you can keep your doctor...

 

Obama care will actually save you thousands of dollars...

 

All bald face lies...

 

Obama's popularity and believability...are at an all time low...

 

No one believes him anymore...

 

40% do. And that's double the number that believe House Republicans.

 

Just sayin' like.

 

 

You need some new material.

 

 

Not when I'm answering the same old, tired stuff I don't.

 

[Bigfarang1948]

Yep  Americans will leave in defeat no matter what they try to do in the Middle East. We got our butts kicked in Vietnam just like the French did, we failed in Afghanistan just like the Russians did and we have failed in Iraq.  I feel for the Christians in northern Iraq but we will kill only a few of the ISIS terrorists. The ONLY way to save the Christians is by our soldiers, thousands of them, going into Erbil, by plane, walking up the mountain and bringing these people down and ultimately to America, there is no other way to save them. Even Jordan is a fairly tolerant Muslim country but you do not see their King or Queen opening their doors or offering sanctuary to them because it would invite IBIS to invade them as well,  ISIS is practically at the northern Iraqi border, What next; an invasion of Iran?  Air strikes will simply not kill enough of the bad guys, I am glad obama is showing some balls finally but he is ignoring problems at home that far exceed the welfare of these unfortunate Christians  And yes, thanks to or few Allies who are offering humanitarian aid in this wanton slaughter but your planes and ground troops will be are needed also if we go back in to rescue these people

 

Has the President grow a pair? "We're Americans. We act. We lead. And that's what we're going to do on that mountain," 

 

Be it for good or bad... That's the way Americans think. 

 

I like it!

 

 

Yes and when you Americans are finished acting and leading you leave chaos behind.  Vietnam, Cuba, South America, Afghanistan, Iraq... The list is long.

 

 

 

 

[JacChang]

Whatever his reasons.

 

This is the right thing to do. Call it lucky they are the chosen ones if you want, but it doesn't matter. Those people require those with power to save them, because they are in need. Put anyone of us in those situations, we would be extremely grateful.

 

So thumbs up!

[Chicog]

As Bigfarang says though, this is merely a palliative.

 

 

[Yahooka]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

 

I'm going to have to reply to this with a confused and puzzled question mark.

Firstly ISiS seem to be animals and the Yazikis need help.....but so to Syrians, Palestinians and numerous other ethic groups around the globe.

Someone tell me what make the Yazidis so "special" that the American President and the Vatican have recognised them. I don't mean this in a derogatory way, but the Yazidis seem to represent a minority religion that the US and the Vatican feel needs preservation. They live in a very ancient area so I'm asking is there any underlying reasons I don't understand here that makes them so valuable.

America says they can't just look away, when in fact they do that regularly. I'm glad someone's helping the Yazides, but I don't know why they are the chosen people.

When an group of people faces extinction most will think it`s needed for the world to help them.......Syrians and Palestinians doesn`t face extinction.

[Scott]

Here's a clue:   This thread isn't about

 

--Afghanistan

--Vietnam

--Cuba

--Palestine

--Israel

 

Next person who starts derailing the topic will get a suspension.  

Numerous posts and replies have been deleted.  

[OZEMADE]

_{Looks like the Aussies will be going in to assist with aid first. I say first because we all know they will be later be contributing and adding to the fighting.}

_{https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24685985/australia-backs-us-in-iraq/}