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ISIS Advances Despite Air Strikes
[FoxNews] The Islamic militants reportedly expanded their drive near Iraqi Kurdistan Saturday despite two U.S. airstrikes aimed at mortar positions and a seven-vehicle convoy to stop the advance on Kurdish capital of Irbil.The Wall Street Journal reported that the militants appear to have their sights on connecting towns seized along the Kurdish-control territory. The most recent town to be seized was identified as Sheikhan. News of the advance comes hours after U.S. warplanes launched two more rounds of airstrikes against Islamic militants in northern Iraq, taking out two mortar positions and a seven-vehicle convoy. President Obama authorized the use of force to protect U.S. personnel and Iraqi religious minorities facing a possible "genocide." The chief spokesman for the Pentagon, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said the U.S. launched the latest airstrikes to help defend the city of Irbil, where U.S. personnel are "assisting the government of Iraq." The airstrikes were considered successful. Senior military officials said the planes in this round of strikes, like those in the first, were launched from the USS George HW Bush in the Persian Gulf. A drone took off from an undisclosed land base and used hellfire missiles to strike its targets. One Defense Department official summed up the one airstrike in The New York Times, saying, "you know that vehicle and the people in it don't exist anymore." Fine, now tell us about the bigger picture, dear state department official? Posted by: Thineng Angailet7166 2014-08-10 |
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