Another line in the sand

摘要

“America is coming to help,”US president Barack Obama says,as the advance of Islamist Isis insurgents threatens the Kurdish Regional Government(KRG)in Iraq.The US air force bombed Isis forces that were shelling Erbil’s defences on 8 August.Obama has authorised airstrikes to protect US personnel and interests in the area,and to prevent a massa-cre of thousands of Yazidi refugees who are trapped on Mount Sinjar after fleeing the Isis advance. The US military intervention to defend Erbil and the Yazidis follows through on Obama’s pledge last month to defend US personnel in Iraq from the Isis threat.But the piecemeal nature of the response shows that Washington still has no overarching strategy to deal with the threat posed by Isis to Iraq,Syria and the wider Middle East.