US President Barack Obama told reporters on Thursday that the US effort to break the siege of thousands of civilians who had been chased up Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq by the Islamic State (IS, formally ISIS) terror militia had been successful. He added that kinetic air strikes against IS targets elsewhere in Iraq would likely continue, along with efforts to bolster Kurdish and Iraqi government forces battling IS on the ground. Those efforts received a boost on Thursday when deposed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced that he is stepping aside and will not use security forces loyal to him to stay in power by force. The Obama Administration in Washington welcomed the move, expressing hope that it would “set Iraq on a new path and unite its people” against the threat from IS. The UN and other worlds governments also issued statements of support. Read More