GLOBALPOST LIVE BLOG: IRAQ UNDER SIEGE
UPDATE: 8/11/14 5:25 PM ET
Signing off
This live blog is closed for the evening. Check here for news updates overnight.
UPDATE: 8/11/14 4:53 PM ET
Watch live video of Obama's statement on Iraq
UPDATE: 8/11/14 4:25 PM ET
Reports say the US is arming the peshmerga
The United States is "directly supplying weapons" to Kurdish forces to fight IS militants, several media outlets report, citing information from anonymous US government sources. Those officials said that the weapons are coming from the CIA, not the Department of Defense. The Associated Press reports that the shipments include rifles and ammunition.
Observers say arming the peshmerga underscores how seriously the US takes the threat of IS gains in the region. There's a good chance we'll hear more on the official reasoning when Obama holds a press conference this evening — watch that video live in the post above.
UPDATE: 8/11/14 4:15 PM ET
Maliki rejects new Iraq PM as US-backed breach of constitution
Agence France-Presse — Outgoing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki charged that the naming of his successor as premier on Monday amounted to a violation of Iraq's constitution carried out with US support.
"We reject the constitutional violation," Maliki said of the selection of Haidar al-Abadi, a member of his party, to form a new government. Maliki accused Washington of involvement, saying the US "stood (on) the side of violating the constitution."
UPDATE: 8/11/14 1:41 PM ET
UN chief urges for calm after naming of new Iraqi PM
Agence France-Presse — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed the appointment of a new Iraqi prime minister and called for calm after outgoing premier Nouri al-Maliki vowed to challenge the decision.
Ban said the appointment of Haidar al-Abadi was in accordance with the Iraqi constitution and represented "forward movement toward government formation in Iraq" which is fighting a jihadist offensive.
UPDATE: 8/11/14 12:29 PM ET
This man has lost 63 relatives to the Islamic State
A harrowing story from GlobalPost's Tracey Shelton:
On Friday, Assad Haig received a call from his mother's phone number. On the other end was a militant of the Islamic State. Haig's family, the man said, were going to be executed. Haig is 23 years old. He works in the Kurdish capital of Erbil.
He comes from Sinjar, a town that was overrun by Islamic State militants on Aug. 3. Almost every relative he has ever known — 63 in total — was in Islamic State custody at the time he got the call. Most of them are, or were, women and small children.
Assad Haig, photographed in Erbil. (Tracey Shelton/GlobalPost)
UPDATE: 8/11/14 11:44 AM ET
A perilous journey
Islamic State's rapid takeover of Iraqi towns has displaced thousands of minority groups from their homes in a matter of weeks.
AFP/Getty photographer Ahmad Al-Rubaye took these photos of Yazidi refugees crossing Iraq's border with Syria.
UPDATE: 8/11/14 11:16 AM ET
From skepticism to optimism re: US involvement in Iraq
GlobalPost's Tracey Shelton weighed in on what Iraqis think of US intervention in Iraq on HuffPost Live.
"At the beginning, people were a bit skeptical," Shelton said. "They didn't know if it was going to be prolonged or what to expect or how much of an effect it was going to have, particularly citizens of Irbil, the Kurdish were worried about them moving into the Kurdish cities. Now I find today people are getting really optimistic — they see the Kurdish are pushing forward, they are making gains."
Watch the full interview here.
This was the scene in front of the US Consulate in Irbil:
Iraqi Kurds and Iraqi Christians hold-up signs thanking the US during a demonstration in front of the US General Consulate in Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on Aug. 11, 2014.
UPDATE: 8/11/14 10:32 AM ET
For visual context on the humanitarian crisis on Mount Sinjar
UPDATE: 8/11/14 10:08 AM ET
US reportedly arming Kurdish forces
The Associated Press is reporting that the US is apparently sending weapons to Kurdish forces battling Islamic State militants in northern Iraq.
From the story:
Previously, the US had insisted on only selling arms to the Iraqi government in Baghdad, but the Kurdish peshmerga fighters had been losing ground to Islamic State militants in recent weeks.
The officials wouldn't say which US agency is providing the arms or what weapons are being sent, but one official said it isn't the Pentagon. The CIA has historically done similar quiet arming operations.
UPDATE: 8/11/14 9:31 AM ET
US says it's 'ready to fully support a new and inclusive Iraqi government'
UPDATE: 8/11/14 9:18 AM ET
Another twist in Iraq's political saga
Reuters — Iraq's president on Monday asked Haider al-Abadi, the Shia coalition's nominee for prime minister, to form a government, a spokesman for the main Shia coalition said.
The move, which comes after months of political wrangling, is likely to be resisted by Nouri al-Maliki, who has rejected calls to drop his bid for a third term as prime minister.
UPDATE: 8/11/14 8:49 AM ET
Displaced Iraqis are struggling to survive
Jonathon Rugman, foreign affairs correspondent for Channel 4 News, has been tweeting photos and updates about the excruciatingly difficult conditions faced by refugees who fled to Mount Sinjar in northwestern Iraq following Islamic State's offensive. Many have gone without food and water for days while waiting for help, Rugman reports. GlobalPost's Tracey Shelton documented the plight of minorities in Iraq who are being targeted by the militant group. Take a look at Shelton's photo essay here.
UPDATE: 8/11/14 8:25 AM ET
US pushes for new Iraq government
Reuters — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was battling to keep his job on Monday, deploying forces across Baghdad as some parliamentary allies sought a replacement and the United States warned him not to obstruct efforts to form a new government.
Widely accused of a partisan obstinacy that has fuelled the communal violence tearing Iraq apart, the Shia Muslim premier went on television late on Sunday to denounce the ethnic Kurdish president for delaying the constitutional process of naming a prime minister following a parliamentary election in late April.
However, President Fouad Masoum won a rapid endorsement from Washington. With Sunni fighters from the Islamic State making new gains over Kurdish forces north of Baghdad, the United States renewed its call for Iraqis to form a consensus government to try and end bloodshed that has prompted the first US air strikes since the US occupation ended in 2011.
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