U.S. Military Launches Airstrikes In Iraq Following President Obama’s Authorization [VIDEO]
U.S. warplanes have done what President Obama previously authorized.
FOX News Radio’s Rachel Sutherland reports:
Two F-18 aircraft dropped 500-pound bombs on an artillery piece used by Islamic militants near the city of Erbil, where U.S. personnel are stationed. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke to reporters early this morning .
(Hagel) ”ISIL is a very significant threat to the security of Iraq. It remains a threat.”
The President has vowed the U.S. will not be dragged into another war in Iraq. U.S. troops are also dropping humanitarian aid to thousands of Christians trapped on a mountain in Northern Iraq. They’re surrounded by militants and cut-off from food and water.
In Washington, Rachel Sutherland, FOX News Radio.
Airstrikes and humanitarian relief… President Obama ordering a pair of missions in response to a growing insurgency in Iraq.
FOX News Radio’s Jared Halpern has more from Washington:
U.S. aircraft have dropped much needed food and water to thousands of Iraqis, part of a religious minority community, stranded by the threat of death by the insurgent groups Islamic State.
(President Obama) “When many thousands of innocent civilians are faced with the danger of being wiped out, and we have the capacity to do something about it, we will take action.”
President Obama also green-lighting targeted airstrikes against ISIS convoys moving near the Kurdish capital of Irbil where U.S. military personnel are based.
But the President insists there will be no wider engagement, saying there will be no commitment of any U.S. ground troops.
In Washington, Jared Halpern, FOX News Radio.
WATCH President Obama’s statement on Iraq:
Read a statement from Speaker Boehner on the airstrikes in Iraq.
“The President’s authorization of airstrikes is appropriate, but like many Americans, I am dismayed by the ongoing absence of a strategy for countering the grave threat ISIS poses to the region. Vital national interests are at stake, yet the White House has remained disengaged despite warnings from Iraqi leaders, Congress, and even members of its own administration. Such parochial thinking only emboldens the enemy and squanders the sacrifices Americans have made. The President needs a long-term strategy – one that defines success as completing our mission, not keeping political promises – and he needs to build the support to sustain it. If the President is willing to put forward such a strategy, I am ready to listen and work with him. For now, I wish Godspeed to all our men and women participating in these operations.”
