American troops in Iraq respond to crisis

World Today

There are now 130 U.S. military advisers in Iraq assessing whether to send more troops to help safely evacuate the Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar.

The White House said that decision will come within days, despite President Obama’s repeated assurance that he would not send American troops in a combat role to Iraq.

The Islamic State militants have been keeping the Yazidi refugees trapped for days. More than 20,000 of them have escaped to Syria with the help of Kurdish forces.

The U.S. has conducted at least six military strikes to protect civilians specifically from Islamic State strikes.  The U.S. has also dropped more than 100,000 meals and 27,000 gallons of water to those trapped on the mountain.

But the U.S. does not believe that aid drops are a permanent solution, and it says the the Kurds and other international partners would be a key part of any evacuation plan.

 There are now close to 1,000 American troops in Iraq.

CCTV America’s Jessica Stone reports.

American troops in Iraq in response to humanitarian crisis

There are now close to 1,000 U.S. troops in Iraq to assess whether they can send more troops to help safely evacuate the Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar.

More Iraq coverage on CCTV America.

Lt. Colonel Tony Shaffer, a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and Center for Advanced Defense Studies, as well as a New York Times best-selling author, joined CCTV America for more on how the U.S. can contain the Islamic State.

US army official on the Iraq crisis

Lt. Colonel Tony Shaffer, a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and Center for Advanced Defense Studies, as well as a New York Times best-selling author, joined CCTV America for more on how the U.S. can contain the Islamic State.