Obama Considering Second Aid Mission To Iraq, Sources Say

Sources close to the Obama administration announced this week that the president is deciding on a new possible relief mission in Iraq to help more refugees displaced by the Islamic State.

The president is reportedly considering a humanitarian relief mission to help the people of Amirli, located in northern Iraq, where about 12,000 to 15,000 refugees are hiding without food or water after being driven from their homes by the Islamic State.

David Pollock, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who formerly worked for the State Department, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that "it's a very urgent situation" for the people of Amirli. One possible solution to freeing the refugees from Amirli would reportedly be to open a land corridor into Kurdish territory, so the refugees could escape the city without being attacked by Islamic State militants.

Earlier this month, the U.S. performed another humanitarian aid mission when it airdropped supplies to the minority Yazidis population on Mount Sinjar. The religious minority had fled to the mountain for safety after being forced from their homes by the Islamic State. The U.S. participated in multiple airdrops that provided food and medical supplies to the refugees, but after troops visited the mountain in mid-August, they determined that an evacuation mission would not be necessary.

The U.S., Kurdish forces and the Iraqi government have been fighting the growing power of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria since early June. Although the Islamic State has threatened to kill Americans if the U.S. continues its airstrikes, president Obama said earlier this month that the al-Qaeda offshoot is a "cancer" that must be stopped.

"Rooting out a cancer like [ISIS] won't be easy and it won't be quick," Obama said at the American Legion National Convention on Tuesday.

"Our message to anyone who harms our people is simple. America does not forget, our reach is long, we are patient, justice will be done," Obama said, referencing the recent beheading of American journalist James Foley by the Islamic State. "We have proved time and time again we will do what's necessary to capture those who harm Americans to go after those who harm Americans. And we'll continue to take direct action where needed to protect our people and to defend our homeland."