Obama vil hjelpe flyktninger i Irak ved å bombe ISIS

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Obama authorizes 'targeted airstrikes' in Iraq to counter ISIS militants

By Jim Sciutto, Catherine E. Shoichet and Barbara Starr, CNN

August 8, 2014 -- Updated 0542 GMT (1342 HKT)

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Kerry: "The world cannot sit by and watch innocents die"
• Obama says he's authorized "targeted airstrikes" in Iraq
• Obama: "We do whatever is necessary to protect our people"
• The United States drops humanitarian aid in Iraq, official says

Washington (CNN) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday that he's authorized "targeted airstrikes" in Iraq to protect American personnel and help Iraqi forces.

"We do whatever is necessary to protect our people," Obama said. "We support our allies when they're in danger."

A key concern for U.S. officials: dozens of American consular staff and military advisers working with the Iraqi military in Irbil, the largest city in Iraq's Kurdish region.

Obama said Thursday he'd directed the military to take targeted strikes against Islamist militants "should they move towards the city."

Rapid developments on the ground, where a humanitarian crisis is emerging with minority groups facing possible slaughter by Sunni Muslim extremists from the Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, have set the stage for an increasingly dire situation.

Thousands of families from the Yazidi minority are trapped in the mountains, a senior administration officials said.

They have been without food, water or medical care after fleeing the rampaging Islamist fighters. Dozens of children have died of thirst in the intense summer heat.

Obama: 'potential act of genocide'

In addition, throngs of other refugees, many of them Iraqi Christians, are on the run -- their largest city, Qaraqosh, now occupied by fighters who gave them an ultimatum, "Convert to Islam or die."