Obama: Iraq Strikes to 'Take Some Time'
by VOA News August 09, 2014
President Barack Obama says the U.S. military's airstrikes in Iraq have successfully destroyed arms and equipment that Islamic State militants could have used against the Kurdish capital of Irbil.
Speaking at the White House Saturday, Obama said the fight against the group previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) will take 'more than weeks.'
The president said Friday's targeted strikes involving fighter jets and drones were essential to prevent the militants' advance on Irbil, where American diplomats and military advisers, among others, are stationed.
Obama said the intervention was also needed to aid Iraqi religious minorities, including Christians and Yazidis, who fled after the extremist Sunni militants issued an ultimatum ordering groups of civilians to convert to Islam or die. The Islamic State group has published videos of its adherents beheading people who fail to comply with such orders.
On Saturday, Obama also said food and water air-dropped by the U.S. military to the civilians stranded on the mountain 'will help them survive.'
'Humanitarian effort continues to help the men, women and children,' he said, adding it may take time to provide safe passage for those on the mountain.
The president said the U.S. has also stepped up military assistance to Kurdish forces in Iraq.
According to statements released by the White House, leaders of both Britain and France have agreed to join the United States in providing help to the refugees, and that on Saturday Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to develop options to secure the civilians' safety.
The White House also said Obama and French President Francois Hollande agreed on the need for an 'urgent, coordinated international response to the humanitarian disaster.' The two leaders said they would work together on a longer term strategy to counter the Islamic State group.
Iraqi government
The president also told reporters the most important timetable he is focused on is the formation of an inclusive Iraqi government, so that Iraqis can unite to defend their country from the Islamic State fighters who currently hold large portions of Iraqi territory.
"We're going to maintain vigilance and make sure our people are safe," he said, referring to American diplomats and military advisers in the consulate and elsewhere. That effort could take months, he suggested.
Iraq's parliament was elected in April but still must choose its leadership. Support has been waning for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite criticized for not involving representatives of other religious and ethnic groups.
The crisis in Iraq has been at the top of the agenda for the U.S. government for much of the past week. In his weekly address to the nation, broadcast earlier Saturday, the president said he decided to intervene in Iraq because the U.S. 'cannot just look away' when 'innocent people are facing a massacre.'
After speaking with reporters on the South Lawn, Obama departed Washington to begin his vacation in the northeast state of Massachusetts.
Clashes near Irbil
According to White House officials, in one strike, the U.S. military dropped 250-kilogram laser-guided bombs on an artillery unit that was shelling Kurdish forces defending Irbil.
Bakhtyar Dogan, a spokesman for the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the People's Protection Forces, told VOA Kurdish Service on Saturday that Islamic State militants were marching on Irbil, the capital of Kurdistan region in Iraq.
"The militants are close to a refugee camp on the outskirts of Irbil,' he said. 'It poses a serious threat. We are fighting back to protect our people, especially women, elderly and children. There were several clashes yesterday between our fighters and the militants."
Retired U.S. Brigadier General Ernie Audino told VOA Kurdish that the United States should strengthen Kurdish forces to effectively fight the Islamic State group.
"I believe that we need to arm the Kurds, support the Kurds in a way that will allow them to maintain and exploit the conditions on the ground and we can set with a legitimate air campaign coordinated with Peshmarga operations on the ground."
The Islamic militant group, which has captured significant amounts of military hardware the U.S. had previously supplied Iraqi forces, now controls a large swathe of eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq. It has declared the area a 'caliphate,' and is actively recruiting other fighters to join the group.
In Washington on Friday, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes met at the White House with members of the Yazidi community to discuss the situation in northern Iraq and said the United States will continue to provide humanitarian support.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Friday issued a notice restricting U.S. commercial flights in Iraqi airspace, due to the 'potentially hazardous situation' created by the conflict between the Islamic militants and Iraqi security forces.
The International Organization for Migration says the number of internally displaced people in Iraq is now over 1 million.
VOA reporter Kokab Farshori and White House correspondent Luis Ramirez contributed to this report.
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