1. Reports emerge of potential airstrikes in Iraq, humanitarian air drops
APIslamic State group militants and Tribal fighters take control of a checkpoint that belonged to Kurdish peshmerga fighters, as people leave a village in the Khazer area outside Irbil, northern Iraq, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014.
Airstrikes on Northern Iraqi towns seized by Islamist militants began late Thursday in what Kurdish and Iraqi officials called the first stage of an American-led intervention, according to a report on The New York Times website. The Pentagon denied that American forces began the bombing campaign, but Pentagon officials said it was possible that U.S. allies had conducted the bombing, according to the Times
1a. Pentagon Denies Report US Is Bombing ISIS Targets In Iraq
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-bombing-isis-iraq-pentagon-denies-nyt-2014-8#ixzz39kogKuEi
The Pentagon moved swiftly to shoot down a New York Times report Thursday afternoon that American military forces had bombed at least two places in northern Iraq targeting fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), as U.S. officials said humanitarian airdrops in northern Iraq had begun.
1b. . Pentagon Denies Report US Is Bombing ISIS Targets In Iraq
1c. White House tight lipped on possible air strikes in Iraq
2. The highly anticipated VICE News video on the Islamic State is now being released to Youtube in 5 parts. Here is part 1.
3. Iraq: ISIS bombs Kirkuk, thousands of Christians forced to flee
3b. Iraq: Over 50,000 Christians flee ISIS onslaught
4. BBC: Iraq’s Yazidis under ISIS fire – BBC News
5. Jets, explosions reported near Islamic State lines as Kurds beg for U.S. help
IRBIL, Iraq — Jet aircraft attacked Islamic State positions outside the town of Kalak, 25 miles northwest of Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, a resident of Kalak told McClatchy early Friday.
The resident, reached by phone from Irbil, said she had seen the aircraft and had heard the explosions coming from behind Islamic State lines, which are slightly more than a mile away. The resident said because it was dark she could not see any markings on the aircraft.
Kurdish television reported that the bombers were American. There was no confirmation from U.S. officials in Washington, however, and the Pentagon spokesman, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, called reports that the U.S. had conducted airstrikes in Iraq “completely false.”
Much more to come almost certainly. Thanks everyone who helped out today.
Thank you M., Snaphanen.Dk and many more.
Video GRAPHIC – probably shot in SYRIA – no date – uploaded today on youtube
NYT – Obama Authorizes Limited Airstrikes in Iraq if Needed
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.
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.
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.
more on the page:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/middleeast/obama-weighs-military-strikes-to-aid-trapped-iraqis-officials-say.html?_r=0
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CNN – Obama authorizes airstrikes against ISIS
About f#cking time. But better late than never.
That depends on how long and how intense the bombing is, we can expect the bombing to continue until after the November election, the question is will he allow the military to do its job and cripple ISIS during that time period or will he do like Johnson did and pick the targets himself. During Nam President Johnson picked all bombing targets based on which would give him the most political support rather then which would weaken the enemy.
Monstrous old goon.
And crooked as hell.