White House tight lipped on possible air strikes in Iraq

2014-08-07 13

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said on Thursday (August 7) that the U.S. is not confirming if it is considering airstrikes to help religious and ethnic minorities trapped in Iraq by Islamic State fighters.

The New York Times reported that U.S. President Barack Obama was considering airstrikes or humanitarian airdrops to help trapped religious minorities in Iraq. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest would not say if air strikes were being considered.

"The president's also been clear that any sort of military action that would be taken in Iraq would be very limited in scope and very specific to addressing a core American objective," Earnest said.

Fighters from the Islamic State have trapped thousands of people from the ancient Yazidi community in mountains in northern Iraq.