On August 8th 2008, the U.S. announced that they had started carrying out air strikes in northern Iraq. The major reason given for this was that the United States couldn\u2019t stand idly by while the Islamic State killed, displaced and persecuted minority groups, with the fate of the Yazidis at the forefront of the justification.<\/p>\n
Barack Obama was quoted as saying that:<\/p>\n
\n\u2018when we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/the-press-office\/2014\/08\/07\/statement-president<\/a><\/p>\n
Meanwhile, over the preceding 4 weeks, Israel had been busily massacring circa 2000 people in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
The Obama administration\u2019s response to this was to\u00a0block attempts<\/a>\u00a0at the U.N. to hold Israel accountable for war crimes, and to\u00a0replenish<\/a>\u00a0the Israeli military\u2019s arsenal. There were also some mildly critical statements from the U.S. towards Israel, particularly in regards to the bombing of U.N. schools sheltering refugees, but their actions demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that they generally supported and wanted to facilitate the massacre.<\/p>\n
Despite this glaring double standard, an awful lot of corporate media reporting has taken Obama at his word. That the U.S. is indeed bombing Iraq to protect Yazidis, that their actions are well intentioned, and that they should be supported to this end.<\/p>\n