´This is internal US politics to show we´re doing something´: Retired four-star general ´dismayed´ at Obama´s failure to use ´decisive´ force in Iraq in face of ´huge unfolding tragedy´

◼ A retired four-star U.S. Army General said Friday that President Barack Obama´s authorization of targeted airstrikes in northern Iraq is a ´political gesture´ calculated to provide the impression that the U.S. is ´doing something´ about a humanitarian crisis developing there. - David Martosko & Francesca Chambers/Daily Mail [UK]

'There's a huge tragedy unfolding: 1.5 million refugees, a couple of hundred thousand just in the last few weeks. 50,000 of this minority group stuck on – up in the mountains,' Gen. Garry McCaffrey said on MSNBC.

'But these are political gestures using military power.'

'We dropped three aircraft loads of water and food to 50,000 people in the mountains. Now we're striking ISIS artillery units. It looks to me as if a lot of this is internal U.S. politics to show we're doing something.'

◼ We may not like it, but Isis and Iraq remind us that we need America to be the world´s policeman - Dan Hodges/Telegraph [UK]

◼ Britain must support America´s effort in Iraq – if our crippled military still can - Con Coughlin/Telegraph [UK]

◼ World Stock Markets Driven Down as Obama Orders US Airstrikes on Islamic State in Iraq - International Business Times

◼ The new U.S. military mission in Iraq: What we know now - Washington Post

◼ Obama´s Iraq Plan Has a Killer Flaw - And Airstrikes Alone May Not Save It - Jacob Siegel/Daily Beast

The U.S. gambled on local militias to keep ISIS in check. The president’s authorization of airstrikes is an admission that bet didn’t pay off.