Iraq Airstrikes May Continue for Months, Obama Says

[pscot]

So much for a quick, surgical intervention.

WASHINGTON — President Obama said on Saturday that the airstrikes and humanitarian assistance drops he ordered last week in Iraq could go on for months, preparing Americans for an extended military presence in the skies there as Iraq’s leaders try to build a new government.

“I don’t think we’re going to solve this problem in weeks,” Mr. Obama told reporters before leaving for a two-week golf-and-beach vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. “This is going to be a long-term project.”

The president repeated his insistence that his administration would not send ground troops back to Iraq after ending an unpopular, decade-long war and withdrawing the last troops in 2011. But two days after emphasizing the limited scope of the mission in a White House address, he pledged that the United States would stand with Iraq if it could form a unified and inclusive government to counter the Sunni militants who threaten its future.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/world/middleeast/iraq.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=LedeSum&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

[pinto]

1. I want to see the quote, exactly, not the editorial headline spin.

Iraq Airstrikes May Continue for Months, Obama Says

???

[YvonneCa]

2. It's best to watch the entire Q and A...

...on CSpan. The headlines are misleading IMHO.

[pinto]

6. Yeah. I watched it live this AM. What gets snipped for a news blurb and the whole context can be

two different things altogether.

[YvonneCa]

8. So did I. I appreciate your reply. I was

...beginning to think I was alone in hearing his words differently. The context is important...

[morningfog]

3. Not solved in a number of weeks, long term,

how could that be interpreted as anything other than months?

[pinto]

4. I don't think he was referring to the air strikes there. He was referencing the bigger picture, imo.

And he went on to frame it as a situation that will have to be resolved, long term, by the parties in the region. Not the US, militarily.

[YvonneCa]

9. Exactly. He was talking about supporting Iraq...

...politically to strengthen their own government.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. You will not find a quote like that

because it doesn't exist.

[neverforget]

7. I guess you will find the nitpicking on what exactly "weeks" versus "long-term project" means.

Let the discussion begin! I believe months with eventual boots on the ground. But I'm cynical when it comes to military actions.