US President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama speaks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, about ongoing situation in Iraq before his departure on Marine One for a vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. Obama announced late Thursday that he had ordered military airstrikes in northern Iraq to hold off Islamic State forces advancing on the Kurdish capital of Irbil. Obama also ordered airdrops of food and water to member of a religious minority group who fled into the mountains to escape the militants. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)