In a televised late-night statement
from the White House yesterday August 7th, US president Barack Obama said he
has authorized US airstrikes in Northern Iraq to defend hundreds of thousands
of non-Muslims being hunted down and slaughtered by ISIS. This is coming weeks
after American military planes carried out airdrops of humanitarian aid to
thousands of Iraqi Yazidis surrounded by ISIS militants and desperately in need
of food and water.
ISIS has been ruthlessly hunting and
slaughtering members of the ancient Yazidi religion, a faith derived from
Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam, who ISIS have denounced as
devil-worshipers on account of their ancient set of beliefs. Pictured left is
an ISIS fighter posing next to the body of Yazidi. Pictured right Yazidi on
Mount Sinjar carry the bodies of children killed by ISIS. Continue…
Thousands of Iraqi Christians have
also fled their homes after the ISIS hoard seized Qaraqush, Iraq’s largest
Christian town, and several others near Mosul following the withdrawal of
Kurdish peshmerga fighters.
Obama’s 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.
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.
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 Last night Obama said American warplanes had already carried
out airdrops of food and water to the Iraqi Yazidis hiding in the mountains and
it’s time to do more.
‘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.’
The Pentagon later revealed that the
airdrops of food and water 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 UK also said they are looking at how to assist in Iraq as the world should never just watch and do nothing while a minority group is being slaughtered.
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