After calling photojournalist James Foley's parents this morning, President Obama made a short statement about Foley's death at the hands of ISIS. "We will continue to confront this hateful terrorism and replace it with a sense of hope and civility," he said from Martha's Vineyard, where he's vacationing. "That's what Jim Foley stood for."

Cool Pope Francis confirmed today that it is acceptable for the U.S. to use force in Iraq in order to protect religious minorities. He explained to the Associated Press:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will finally step aside in favor of his rival, Haider al-Abadi, according to the Associated Press. Four senior Shiite lawmakers told the AP that "Maliki has agreed to endorse Haider al-Abadi as the next prime minister following a meeting of Dawa party members in Baghdad."

Military advisers sent to northern Iraq this week to assess a potential rescue mission to save thousands of Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar have determined that an evacuation is now "far less likely," citing the success of American airstrikes on the region and successful relief efforts.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced today that the Pentagon has sent 130 additional advisers to northern Iraq to assess evacuation options for the thousands of Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar without food, water, and shelter.

Vice News reporter Medyan Dairieh's unprecedented video series on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria continues with its third installment today, in which Dairieh shadows the religious police through their Syrian capital, Raqqa, and visits prisoners whose "crimes" involved not being sufficiently Muslim.

Alissa J. Rubin, the New York Times Paris bureau chief who has spent much of the past decade anchoring the paper's Iraq and Afghanistan war coverage, was riding in a helicopter that crashed as it was delivering humanitarian aid to Yazidi refugees in northern Iraq today.

VICE News has dropped part two of its mesmerizing five-part behind-the-scenes look at the "Islamic State," and it is a maddening inside look at how the militant movement sweeping Iraq and Syria recruits young boys, uses UN humanitarian aid, and hides away women.

Inevitable Democratic candidate for president in 2016 Hillary Clinton rocked Matt Drudge's world this weekend when she criticized President Obama's foreign policy in an interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg. Clinton, who gave the interview before Obama authorized airstrikes on ISIS in Iraq, said the president's "failure" to intervene in Syria allowed jihadists to come to power in the region.

State Department officials have confirmed to the New York Times and the Associated Press that the U.S. has begun selling weapons to Kurdish forces in Iraq following airstrikes on ISIS strongholds. “They are being armed from various sources,” one senior State Department official told the Times.

Since President Obama's Thursday night announcement regarding humanitarian aid drops and his authorization of "targeted airstrikes" on Iraq, CNN reports U.S. fighter jets and drones "have repeatedly bombed" ISIS artillery units and convoy as they approach the Kurdish capital of Erbil.

The unfolding disaster in Iraq is a difficult problem to solve, as we have pointed out. But it's one that many everyday Americans feel a real stake in. Nowhere is this more evident than in Cher's tweets from this afternoon.

The United States has initiated airstrikes on Islamic militants in Iraq who threaten fleeing civilians. But what precisely are we attacking? Likely a lot of stuff we built, sold and shipped over there during our long war to keep Iraqis safe, at least one expert says.

According to a statement from the Pentagon, the U.S. launched airstrikes in Iraq this morning, targeting ISIS militants. President Obama authorized the strikes just hours before. The U.S. has also reportedly banned U.S. airlines from flying in Iraq's airspace because of a "hazardous situation created by armed conflict."

President Obama announced tonight that he has authorized "targeted" airstrikes and humanitarian drops on Iraq. The airstrikes, Obama says, will be ordered if ISIS launches an attack on Erbil, where U.S. personnel are currently stationed. "When we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I think the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye," he said.

In case you haven't heard, shit's getting worse in Iraq again. Islamic militants have expanded their control over territory, secured a dam that provides water and power to much of the country's north, and now threaten a religious minority with extinction. What the hell happened to the military forces America sent over in June?

According to a report from The New York Times, ISIS—the Sunni militant group gaining control of Iraq and Syria—has "appeared to capture" Iraq's biggest dam. If the report is true, the consequences could be disastrous:

Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson launched strikes against North Vietnam for attacking U.S. warships without provocation in the Tonkin Gulf. Six days later, Congress passed a "Gulf of Tonkin resolution" giving Johnson carte blanche to make war in Vietnam. It was a thin pretext for protracted conflict.

Yesterday, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Iraq warned reporters that ISIS — the Sunni militant group taking over Iraq and Syria — had ordered 4 million women and girls in Mosul to undergo genital mutilation. Today, analysts say the written fatwa Jacqueline Badcock based her warning on is fake.

According to a report from the U.N., ISIS — the Sunni militant group taking control of Iraq and Syria — has ordered women and girls in Mosul to undergo genital mutilation. This fatwa potentially affects 4 million women and girls.