U.S. Takes Aim at ISIS in Fight for Tikrit

WASHINGTON, [IFN] --- They’ve joined the battle. The U.S. has begun supporting Iraq’s effort to retake Tikrit in a bid to quash ISIS and “seize the initiative” from Iran, which has led much of the enterprise thus far.


President Obama agreed to help Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi on the condition that Iranian militiamen stand aside to make way for a stronger Iraqi counterterrorism presence. It’s a “gamble,” a U.S. official admitted, but with Tikrit, Mosul and much of Iraq under threat, it’s one the Americans can’t bear to lose.