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Address: American Operations in Iraq
The White House
August 9, 2014
This week, I authorized two
operations in Iraq. First, I directed
our military to take action to protect our American diplomats and military
advisors serving in the city of Erbil.
In recent days, terrorist forces neared the city. Thursday night, I made it clear that if they
attempted to advance further, our military would respond with targeted
strikes. That’s what we’ve done. And, if necessary, that’s what we will
continue to do. We have Americans
serving across Iraq, including our embassy in Baghdad, and we’ll do whatever is
needed to protect our people.
Second, we’ve begun a
humanitarian effort to help those Iraqi civilians trapped on that mountain. The
terrorists that have taken over parts of Iraq have been especially brutal to
religious minorities – rounding up families, executing men, enslaving women,
and threatening the systematic destruction of an entire religious community,
which would be genocide.
The thousands – perhaps tens of
thousands – of Iraqi men, women and children who fled to that mountain were
starving and dying of thirst. The food
and water we airdropped will help them survive.
I’ve also approved targeted American airstrikes to help Iraqi forces
break the siege and rescue these families.
Earlier this week, one anguished Iraqi in this area cried to the world,
“There is no one coming to help.” Today,
America is helping.
The United States cannot and
should not intervene every time there’s a crisis in the world. But when there’s a situation like the one on
this mountain – when countless innocent people are facing a massacre, and when
we have the ability to help prevent it – the United States can’t just look
away. That’s not who we are. We’re Americans.
We act. We lead. And that’s what we’re going to do on that
mountain. As one American who wrote to
me yesterday said, “it is the right thing to do.”
As Commander-in-Chief, I will not
allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq. American combat troops will not be returning
to fight in Iraq, because there’s no American military solution to the larger
crisis there.
What we will do is continue our
broader strategy in Iraq. We will
protect our citizens. We will work with
the international community to address this humanitarian crisis. We’ll help prevent these terrorists from
having a permanent safe haven from which to attack America. And we’ll continue to urge Iraqi communities
to reconcile, come together and fight back against these terrorists so the
people of Iraq have the opportunity for a better future – the opportunity for
which so many Americans gave their lives in Iraq in a long and hard war.
Today, we salute our brave men and women in uniform – especially our courageous pilots and crews over Iraq. They’re protecting our fellow Americans. They’re helping save the lives of innocent people on a mountain – people who today know that there’s a country called America that cares for them, too, and that is willing to stand up – not just for our own security, but for the dignity and freedom that belongs to all people. |
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