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U.S. Launches Fresh Airstrikes on ISIS to Protect Dam in Iraq U.S. Launches New Airstrikes on ISIS to Protect Dam in Iraq
(about 5 hours later)
TBILISI, Georgia — The United States launched a fresh series of airstrikes against Sunni fighters in Iraq late Saturday in what Defense Department officials described as a mission to stop militants from seizing an important dam on the Euphrates River and prevent the possibility of floodwaters being unleashed toward the capital, Baghdad. TBILISI, Georgia — The United States launched a new series of airstrikes against Sunni fighters in Iraq late Saturday in what Defense Department officials described as a mission to stop militants from seizing an important dam on the Euphrates River and prevent the possibility of floodwaters being unleashed toward the capital, Baghdad.
The attacks were aimed at militant fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria as they were moving toward the Haditha Dam, officials said. The operation represented another expansion of the limited goals that President Obama set out when he announced last month that he had authorized airstrikes in Iraq.The attacks were aimed at militant fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria as they were moving toward the Haditha Dam, officials said. The operation represented another expansion of the limited goals that President Obama set out when he announced last month that he had authorized airstrikes in Iraq.
Administration officials nonetheless stressed that the strikes around Haditha Dam — about 175 miles from Baghdad, in Anbar Province — were within the constraints of what Mr. Obama initially characterized as a limited campaign to break the ISIS siege of the minority Yazidi population stranded on Mount Sinjar, as well as to protect American citizens, official personnel and facilities in Erbil, the Kurdish capital, and Baghdad. Administration officials nonetheless stressed that the strikes around the Haditha Dam — about 175 miles from Baghdad, in Anbar Province — were within the constraints of what Mr. Obama initially characterized as a limited campaign to break the ISIS siege of the minority Yazidi population stranded on Mount Sinjar, as well as to protect American citizens, official personnel and facilities in Erbil, the Kurdish capital, and Baghdad.
“We conducted these strikes to prevent terrorists from further threatening the security of the dam,” the Pentagon press secretary, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said Sunday in a statement. “The strikes were conducted under authority to protect U.S. personnel and facilities, support humanitarian efforts, and support Iraqi forces that are acting in furtherance of these objectives.” “I think the strikes the United States took are very much in line with what President Obama said were the guiding principles of military action in Iraq,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said during a news conference while in Tbilisi, Georgia, for talks. Mr. Hagel said that if ISIS fighters seized or destroyed the dam, “the damage that would cause would be very significant and it would put a significant, additional and big risk into the mix in Iraq.”
In a statement, Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said, “We conducted these strikes to prevent terrorists from further threatening the security of the dam.” The strikes, Admiral Kirby said, “were conducted under authority to protect U.S. personnel and facilities, support humanitarian efforts, and support Iraqi forces that are acting in furtherance of these objectives.”
Across the quickly vanishing border between Syria and Iraq, the Syrian government also has increased airstrikes on ISIS in recent months after it took over government military outposts in the northeastern province of Raqqa in a series of newly assertive attacks. Raids by Syrian warplanes in Raqqa on Saturday killed at least 25 people, most of them civilians crowding into a bakery, as government forces continued air attacks on territory controlled by ISIS.Across the quickly vanishing border between Syria and Iraq, the Syrian government also has increased airstrikes on ISIS in recent months after it took over government military outposts in the northeastern province of Raqqa in a series of newly assertive attacks. Raids by Syrian warplanes in Raqqa on Saturday killed at least 25 people, most of them civilians crowding into a bakery, as government forces continued air attacks on territory controlled by ISIS.
The American airstrikes on Haditha Dam were not the first time the United States has expanded on the initial description of the military mission in Iraq. The American military has carried out airstrikes that allowed Iraqi and Kurdish forces to reclaim Mosul Dam, which had fallen into ISIS hands, and has struck Sunni militants who had been besieging the Turkmen city of Amerli. In Iraq, soldiers and officers in the area around the Haditha Dam said that United States warplanes carried out airstrikes on several towns beginning around 11 p.m. on Saturday, striking what were described as ISIS positions in the towns of Rawa and Ana, as well as in Barwana, which is about nine miles from the dam.
A significant rupture of the Haditha Dam, officials have said, could send floodwaters through a large number of Iraqi communities and toward the capital, perhaps putting at risk the Baghdad airport, which could threaten Americans in the country. That rationale is similar to the one used when American warplanes bombed the Sunni militants who had taken control of Mosul Dam. The strikes on Rawa and Ana, two towns near a highway leading into Syria, could disrupt ISIS supply lines in Iraq. Soldiers fighting in Barwana said that the American airstrikes continued on Sunday morning, striking what they described as houses where ISIS fighters were gathering. At the same time, Iraqi military forces, including Special Forces units, were attacking the town from two sides with artillery and mortar fire, Iraqi officers said.
It remained unknown whether ISIS, which has pledged to create an Islamic state over parts of Iraq and Syria, would actually breach the dam or instead would attempt to capture the facility to guarantee control over electricity to areas it now holds. But citing the mission of protecting American citizens and facilities gives the White House wide latitude to support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish militias in a sustained campaign against ISIS across the country. Mr. Hagel said that the United States was working closely with Iraqi military units on the Haditha Dam operation. “The Iraqi government asked for those strikes, and it was Iraqi security forces” who carried out the ground portion of the assault, he said.
In the case of Haditha Dam, the Sunni militants had not made it to the structure but had been advancing for several weeks, American officials said, in a move that worried Iraqi officials who maintained that Haditha Dam was as important as Mosul Dam because it is closer to Baghdad. One of the American officials who described the mission spoke from Tbilisi, Georgia, where Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was traveling and receiving reports from commanders. The American airstrikes on the Haditha Dam were not the first time the United States has expanded on the initial description of the military mission in Iraq. The American military has carried out airstrikes that allowed Iraqi and Kurdish forces to reclaim the Mosul Dam, which had fallen into ISIS hands, and has struck Sunni militants who had been besieging the Turkmen city of Amerli.
A significant rupture of the Haditha Dam, officials have said, could send floodwaters through a large number of Iraqi communities and toward the capital, perhaps putting at risk the Baghdad airport, which could threaten Americans in the country. That rationale is similar to the one used when American warplanes bombed the Sunni militants who had taken control of the Mosul Dam.
It remained unknown whether ISIS, which has pledged to create an Islamic state over parts of Iraq and Syria, would actually breach the dam or instead would attempt to capture the site to guarantee control over electricity to areas it now holds. But citing the mission of protecting American citizens and facilities gives the White House wide latitude to support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish militias in a sustained campaign against ISIS across the country.
In the case of the Haditha Dam, the Sunni militants had not made it to the structure but had been advancing for several weeks, American officials said, in a move that worried Iraqi officials who maintained that the Haditha Dam was as important as the Mosul Dam because it is closer to Baghdad. One of the American officials who described the mission spoke from Georgia, where Mr. Hagel was traveling and receiving reports from commanders.
Georgia’s defense minister, Irakli Alasania, said his country would back the American efforts against ISIS. “We fully support what the United States is doing to relegate these barbarians,” Mr. Alasania said. Georgia, he suggested, might be willing to help train Iraqi security forces.
The battles over the two Iraqi dams are part of a larger water war that has been underway since ISIS swept into Iraq bent on carving out a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. The dams that control the Tigris and the Euphrates have become a valued asset for both sides.The battles over the two Iraqi dams are part of a larger water war that has been underway since ISIS swept into Iraq bent on carving out a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. The dams that control the Tigris and the Euphrates have become a valued asset for both sides.
But the advances by ISIS on both sides of the border have complicated efforts to battle the militants. Critics of the Syrian government, and increasingly some supporters, complain that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces allowed the foreign-led ISIS to gain strength and establish its proto-state over the past year, focusing the army’s attacks more on Syrian-led militant groups whose main aim is to oust the president. ISIS has a broader goal, to remake the Middle East and establish an Islamic caliphate. But the advances by ISIS on both sides of the border have complicated efforts to battle the militants. Critics of the Syrian government, and increasingly some supporters, complain that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces allowed the foreign-led ISIS to gain strength and establish its proto-state over the past year, focusing the army’s attacks more on Syrian-led militant groups whose main aim is to oust Mr. Assad. ISIS has a broader goal: to remake the Middle East and establish an Islamic caliphate.