The United States carried out new air strikes in Iraq on Saturday night to accompany what the Pentagon said was a “humanitarian assistance operation” to help Shia Turkmen under a nearly two-month siege by Islamic militants.
According to a statement released by Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. Kirby, “These military operations were conducted under authorization from the Commander-in-Chief to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and to prevent an ISIL attack on the civilians of Amirli. The operations will be limited in their scope and duration as necessary to address this emerging humanitarian crisis and protect the civilians trapped in Amirli.”
According to earlier reporting by Ahmad Mohammed at Niqash.org:
In addition to the U.S. forces, British, Australian and French forces participated in the humanitarian aid drop.
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Following President Obama’s authorization on August 8 for airstrikes in Iraq as a response to humanitarian crisis, Middle East policy analyst Phyllis Bennis warned that “the U.S. history of linking airdrops of food and water with bombing raids is not a good one.” In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Bennis added:
Though the Pentagon’s statement assured military operations “limited in their scope and duration,” in an op-ed in the New York Times this weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry wrote that “[w]hat’s needed to confront [the Islamic State’s] nihilistic vision and genocidal agenda is a global coalition using political, humanitarian, economic, law enforcement and intelligence tools to support military force.” He added: “Airstrikes alone won’t defeat this enemy. A much fuller response is demanded from the world.”
The U.S. has conducted at least 115 airstrikes on Iraq since Aug. 8.
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