Iraqi Priest calls on Obama to step up fight against ISIS
More than 250,000 Christians have fled Northern Iraq amid ISIS persecution.
By ARIEL COHENUS jets after receiving fuel over northern Iraq.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Top Catholic leaders in Iraq have called upon the United States to take a stronger approach in the fight against ISIS, stating that merely bombing terrorists isn’t enough.“Bombing is also killing people, destroying the infrastructure, houses, schools, churches,” said Patriarch Louis Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq said in an interview with Crux news.“There’s no military solution for the conflict, especially when there are no troops on the ground providing assistance,” he added.Sako also added that the only way that ISIS can be stopped is through cooperation between the Iraqi government and the international coalition led by the United States.More than 250,000 Christians have fled Northern Iraq amid ISIS persecution.“What’s going on in Iraq is a tragedy, and it’s an international moral duty to help those who are paying the price of fundamentalism to stay at home,” he said.The call from the Iraqi Priest came just a day before Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel for increased air strikes and weaponry in the fight against ISIS.President Barack Obama launched the first US air strikes against the Islamic State four months ago. In November, Obama increased the number of US ground troops in Iraq from 1,400 to 2,900.
