Were Alan Grayson, Barbara Lee & Jan Schakowsky consulted?
Via CNS News
The United States says it is helping Iraq’s Shi’ite-dominated government fight al Qaida and its Sunni allies, who have seized parts of two cities, Fallujah and Ramadi, in western Iraq.
Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday the United State will not send troops, but on Monday, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said U.S. help will come in the form of missiles and drones:
“Obviously, we have an ongoing close partnership on counterterrorism issues, are absolutely standing by them to help them in this fight,” Harf told reporters on Monday. “We are continuing to accelerate our foreign military deliveries, our FMS deliveries, to Iraq, are looking to provide an additional shipment of Hellfire missiles as early as this spring.
“These missiles are only one small element of a holistic strategy here, but they have proven effective at denying ISIL (the al-Qaeda-linked group called “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant”) safe haven zones it sought to establish in western Iraq. This is on top of the 75 Hellfires we delivered in December.
“In addition to these, we will also be providing ten ScanEagle surveillance UAVs in the upcoming weeks and 48 Raven surveillance UAVs later this year. So these are, for lack of a better term, surveillance drones. These will help the Iraqis track terrorist elements who are operating within the country.