Obama orders airstrikes against Islamist Jihadists in northern Iraq

As the Jihad against Christians in northern Iraq intensifies with many displaced and about 40,000 trapped in the Sinjar mountains, President Barack Obama of the US has ordered targeted airstrikes if necessary against the Islamic militants to rescue those trapped in the mountains and to protect American interests in that country.

Obama said he would call in US air strikes should the terrorist group, ISIS reach Erbil. The U.S. has an embassy and staffers in that city.

His words: "These innocent families are faced with a choice: descend and be slaughtered or stay and slowly die of hunger," he said.

"As commander in chief, I will not allow the United States to be drawn into fighting another war in Iraq,"

"Today, America is coming to help," Obama said. "The U.S. cannot turn a blind eye."
He also said that an air drop of food, water and medicine made at the request of the Iraqi government has been granted.

According to a statement from the U.S Central command,  aircraft, escorted by fighter jets, dropped 5,300 gallons of drinking water and 8,000 ready to eat meals. The aircraft hovered above the area drop area for less than 15 minutes flying at a low altitude.

The emergency effort is being deployed to help a group of 40,000 Yazidis, a group of ethnic Kurds, who fled villages in northern Iraq under threat from ISIS.

The Yazidis fled to the Sinjar Mountains, in a remote part of northern Iraq near the border of Syria, where they are stuck without food or water while ISIS forces are gathered at the base of the mountains.

ISIS has overtaken much of the northern part of Iraq, including the city of Mosul, over the past two months. They are simultaneously waging campaigns for territory in Syria and Lebanon in their quest to create a unified Islamic state encompassing territory from all three countries