Obama claims authority to carry out campaign against militants
WASHINGTON — The White House says President Barack Obama has told congressional leaders he has the authority he needs to take the action against the Islamic State militants that he will outline Wednesday night.
Obama discussed his plans with congressional leaders Tuesday. Following the meeting, the White House said Obama still welcomes action by Congress that would “aid the overall effort” and demonstrate to the world that the United States is united in defeating the threat from the Islamic State.
There has been no consensus on Capitol Hill on whether Obama should seek congressional approval for his plans. But some lawmakers suggested Tuesday that a vote was unlikely.
Flight 17 wreckage still lies in Ukraine fields
HRABOVE, Ukraine — A child’s jump rope, its yellow handles blistered and charred. A burned book in Tagalog. Chunks of twisted fuselage. More than seven weeks after being shot from the sky, the wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 still lay strewn Tuesday across the fields of eastern Ukraine.
As evidence of the July 17 aviation disaster that killed all 298 people on board remained exposed to the elements, investigators hundreds of miles away in the Netherlands — who have not yet visited the crash site because it is deemed too dangerous — released a preliminary report that left key questions unanswered.
The plane had no mechanical or other technical problem in the seconds before it broke up in the sky after being struck by multiple “high-energy objects from outside the aircraft,” the report said.
There were multiple punctures in the cockpit and front section of the fuselage, it said — damage that could be caused by a missile that detonates in front of its target and peppers it with small chunks of metal. However, investigators did not identify the source of the fragments or say who fired them.
Although the report drew no conclusions about responsibility, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the findings were consistent with “our original assessment, that it was likely shot down by one of these surface-to-air missiles fired from separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine.”
Tough road ahead for Iraqi leader after government formed
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s new prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, has a daunting task ahead of him: With the world watching, the Shiite politician must unify a deeply divided country against Sunni militants who have seized much of its territory.
First, though, he must find officials to run the defense and interior ministries who will be acceptable to Iraq’s parliament, which approved his Cabinet late Monday except for those positions along with a few lesser posts.
The Islamic State group’s lightning advance across much of northern and western Iraq has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes since June. It prompted the U.S. to launch aid operations and airstrikes in hopes of boosting the waning efforts of Iraqi and Kurdish forces looking to regain control of lost territory, including five more strikes Monday and Tuesday to protect the Haditha Dam.
The success of outreach efforts to Iraq’s alienated Sunni minority will be a key part of international efforts to beat back the Islamic State militants, who also control parts of neighboring Syria. French President Francois Hollande also will travel to Iraq on Friday to help prepare an international conference to back Iraq’s efforts against the group.
By local and wire sources