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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is considering direct military strikes in Iraq, to help stop the advances of an Islamic militant group. That's according to U.S. defense officials and others who are familiar with what's being considered.
They say the options also include humanitarian relief tor thousands of displaced religious minorities in the country's north.
President Barack Obama huddled with his national security team this morning to discuss the crisis, as the Islamic State group made further gains.
Airstrikes in particular would mark a significant shift in the U.S. strategy in Iraq, where the military fully withdrew in 2011 after nearly a decade of war.
Officials say Obama could announce a decision as early as today.
In recent days, the Islamic State militants have swept through villages in the north that are home to religious minorities including Christians and the Yazidis, who follow an ancient religion.
The extremists seized Iraq's largest dam today, placing them in control of enormous power and water resources and access to the river that runs through the heart of Baghdad.
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177-c-20-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent)-"water and shelter"-AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports the options the president ia said to be mulling is the use of the U.S. military to respond to a humanitarian crisis. (7 Aug 2014)
<<CUT *177 (08/07/14)££ 00:20 "water and shelter"
178-a-11-(Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, at news conference)-"Iraq political solutions"-White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says the administration won't put combat troops on the ground in Iraq. (7 Aug 2014)
<<CUT *178 (08/07/14)££ 00:11 "Iraq political solutions"
APPHOTO BKM103: A fighter with the Islamic State group directs a vehicle with a Christian family to leave from their home village outside Irbil, northern Iraq, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. Late Wednesday, militants overran a cluster of predominantly Christian villages alongside the country's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, sending tens of thousands of civilians and Kurdish fighters fleeing from the area, several priests in northern Iraq said Thursday. (AP Photo) (7 Aug 2014)
<<APPHOTO BKM103 (08/07/14)££
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