Obama Authorizes Air Strikes on ISIS to Help Iraqis Besieged on Mountain

After invading Iraq in 2003, the United States struggled to repair the bitter Shia-Sunni divide and install a system of governance more stable than that of brutal dictator Saddam Hussein. After US troops withdrew in 2011, a relatively small group of militants fighting in Syria took advantage of a power vacuum to impose what they call an Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, rapidly descending on vulnerable Syrian and Iraqi villages, forcing people to convert to a radical version of Islam or face slaughter. As the extremists approach Baghdad and the Kurdish regional capital of Arbil, the US has ordered an air drop of food and water to 40,000, mostly minority Yazidis, stranded on a mountain after IS took over the town of Sinjar. US President Barack Obama has authorized air strikes for the security of US personnel in Arbil and to prevent genocide, after extremists seized control of Iraq’s largest dam. The challenge for any intervention is Iraq’s deep sectarian divisions, panic about notorious extremists and significant support for Sunni resistance to the Shia-controlled government in Baghdad. The Guardian reports that Obama does not anticipate a “sustained” campaign.” – YaleGlobal