Published on Aug 8, 2014
PROVIDED BY CNNNEXT.COM
The US president says he has authorized the use of targeted airstrikes to prevent the advance of the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in Iraq.
Obama said the operation will be carried out if and when needed to prevent a massacre of civilians.
He, however, ruled out the return of American combat forces to Iraq.
He insisted that reconciliation between political parties and a stronger security force were the key to permanent peace in the country.
Obama further condemned the ISIL attacks on members of Iraq’s Yezidi minority as an act of genocide.
He said he has also authorized relief supply drops in Iraq.
On Thursday, US military planes dropped humanitarian supplies to thousands of refugees trapped in the mountains outside the northern city of Sinjar.
