Obama has promised there will be no troops sent to save the crumbling Iraqi military from terrorists forces. He stated that his national security team has been working to provide alternative options for helping the Iraqi military.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has recently waged war in both northern Syria and Iraq. The Jihadist group formed during the Iraq War claims the territory currently occupied by Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. The group may also be supported by Saddam Hussein sympathizers of the Ba’athist party. Al-Qaeda broke ties with the unrecognized, Sunni Islamic state in February of 2014. The ISIS is responsible for thousands of civilian deaths and have leaked execution videos.
The Telegraph UK reports a spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq said “the number of people killed in recent days may run into the hundreds and the number of wounded is said to be approaching one thousand.”
The ISIS has recently taken over Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq. In the city, at least four women committed suicide after being raped or forced to marry ISIS terrorists. The Iraqi cities of Tikrit, Fallujah, and Baji have also been taken over. After ISIS members released and armed prisoners, they reportedly tracked down and killed seven police officers in Tikrit who may have worked in the prison. The ISIS now vows to continue its march north to Baghdad.
A group so destructive that al-Qaeda wants nothing to do with them is certainly cause for alarm, especially when they are making good on their campaign promises. The ISIS now controls significant portions of Iraq and Syria.
Iraqi Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called for drone strikes, and with an invitation from the government, the US doesn’t need to rally for support from the United Nations. Iran has reportedly already sent troops to Iraq . Amid worries that the area will descend into chaos, split into religious factions, or become more of a breeding grounds for terrorists, the US will certainly take action. Obama stated:
But Obama warns against pouring more money into the recovering country that is still internally divided. The worry is that until the government itself develops cohesion, intervention by the US won’t amount to a long term fix.
Stateside, Republicans have wasted no time in taking the opportunity to blame Obama for the crumbling Iraqi government. A Washington Times editorial entitled “Iraqi Crumbles on Obama’s Watch” blames the current turmoil on Obama’s “ … eagerness to pull American arms out of Iraq too soon… ”
Whether the Sunnis and Shiites have been fighting for around 1,400 years, or whether President Obama is to blame for the sectarian violence of recently formed, unrecognized jihadists’ states, it looks like the US will soon be involved in Iraq again.
ISIS Flag via Wikipedia
Iraq Map via Google Maps and Wikipedia