Mosul Dam
President Obama revealed that Kurdistan forces and the U.S. have launched an operation to retake control over the Mosul dam in Iraq. The airstrikes were authorized by the president himself and he emphasized they were for the protection of American personnel.
"The failure of the Mosul Dam could threaten the lives of large numbers of civilians, endanger U.S. personnel and facilities, including the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and prevent the Iraqi government from providing critical services to the Iraqi populace. Pursuant to this authorization, on the evening of August 15, 2014, U.S. military forces commenced targeted airstrike operations in Iraq."said President Obama in a letter he had sent of the House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner
According to the Associates Press, the Kurdistan forces had succeeded in retaking the Mosul Dam from the Islamic State or ISIS. Over 20 airstrikes were carried out on the areas surrounding the Mosul Dam last Saturday and Sunday, destroying a considerable amount of carriers, armored vehicles and other heavy equipment.
The Islamic militants have been accused by the United Nations of driving up close to 1.2 million Iraqi and minority civilians out of their homes. The ISIS has also built a reputation for savage atrocities including the beheading of children wide-spread rapes and selling of women as sex slaves. Many of the victims are religious and ethnic minorities including Christians and even Sunni Muslims.
As a result, the U.S. government insiders have urged the administration that America must intervene in order to prevent further violence from the ISIS against Iraqi and Syrian civilians. Although the U.S. is continuing to aid the Iraqi government and Kurdish military forces, the administration has been receiving a considerable amount of criticism for their very limited intervention.
In the same letter to John Boehner, President Obama stated that, "These military operations will be limited in their scope and duration as necessary to support the Iraqi forces in their efforts to retake and establish control of this critical infrastructure site, as part of their ongoing campaign against the terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),"
Despite the criticism from Republicans, the Obama administration still continues to assist the Kurdish forces with airstrikes and resulted in the rescuing of thousands of civilians who were trapped on top of Mount Sinjar and recently recaptured the Mosul Dam. President Obama announced that they will be "working with our international partners to provide humanitarian assistance to those who are suffering in northern Iraq wherever we have capabilities," but without the deployment of U.S. ground forces.
