Sunday Times 2
Australia may help in US airdrops in Iraq: PM
View(s):SYDNEY, Aug 9 (AFP) -Australia may participate in United States airdrops of food and water to civilians threatened by jihadist violence in Iraq, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said today.
US President Barack Obama has authorised air strikes in Iraq to prevent fighters from the so-called Islamic State from moving into autonomous Kurdistan and carrying out a potential genocide against displaced minorities.
The US has also dropped food and water to thousands of people who have been hiding from the Sunni extremist militants in a barren northern mountain range and Abbott said Australia could contribute to this effort.
“We are talking to the Americans about possible Australian participation in these humanitarian airdrops,” Abbott told reporters in Sydney.
Sailors launch aircraft from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Gulf, in this August 7 (REUTERS)