======================================================================
Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
======================================================================
(So let me get this straight. Obama was using ISIS as a weapon against
the Shi'ite "axis of resistance", right? Maybe he was pretending to do
that when his real intention was to support an Iranian/Iraqi conspiracy
against Saudi Arabia and Turkey. And maybe Obama is a secret agent of
the Communist Party USA with Posadista deviations who wants to spark
WWIII, out of which socialism will arrive over the smoldering rubble?)
NY Times, August 8 2014
Obama Weighs Airstrikes or Aid to Help Trapped Iraqis, Officials Say
By HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON — President Obama is considering airstrikes or airdrops of
food and medicine to address a humanitarian crisis among as many as
40,000 religious minorities in Iraq who have been dying of heat and
thirst on a mountaintop after death threats from the Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria, administration officials said on Thursday.
The president, in meetings with his national security team at the White
House on Thursday morning, has been weighing a series of options ranging
from dropping humanitarian supplies on Mount Sinjar to military strikes
on the fighters from ISIS now at the base of the mountain, a senior
administration official said.
“There could be a humanitarian catastrophe there,” a second
administration official said, adding that a decision from Mr. Obama was
expected “imminently — this could be a fast-moving train.”
The administration official said that “the president is weighing both
passive and active options,” defining passive action as dropping
humanitarian supplies. He added, using an alternative name for ISIS,
“More active, we could target the ISIL elements that are besieging the
base of the mountain.”
Mr. Obama made no mention of imminent military action as he traveled to
Fort Belvoir in the Virginia suburbs on Thursday to sign legislation to
overhaul the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs. Top officials were
in the meantime gathering at the White House to discuss the possible
Iraq action.
The administration had been delaying taking any military action against
ISIS until there is a new Iraqi government. Both White House and
Pentagon officials have said privately that the United States would not
intervene militarily until Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki stepped down.
But administration officials said on Thursday that the crisis on Mount
Sinjar may be forcing their hand. About 40 children have already died
from the heat and dehydration, according to Unicef, while as many as
40,000 people have been sheltering in the bare mountains without food,
water or access to supplies.
The administration officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to speak publicly. One official said that any
military action would be “limited, specific and achievable,” noting that
Mr. Maliki’s political party was supposed to announce a new candidate
for prime minister on Thursday, but had not yet.
________________________________________________
Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu
Set your options at:
http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
