:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News, it's time for Reporters.
:00:16. > :00:20.Hello and welcome to this special edition of Reporters. I'm Tim
:00:21. > :00:23.Wilcox. As the humanitarian crisis deepens and the militants in Iraqi
:00:24. > :00:32.gather pace, we have reports across the region.
:00:33. > :00:46.This week, stranded on Mount Sinjar. Paul Woods reports from the besieged
:00:47. > :00:49.Iraqi mountain. The question remains, how are these people and a
:00:50. > :00:52.million other displaced Iraqis going to get home when the Islamic state
:00:53. > :00:59.controls so much of the country? `` Islamic State.
:01:00. > :01:02.Aid dropped to the women and children trapped in the conflict.
:01:03. > :01:05.The human tragedy of Barack's civil conflict. Caroline Wyatt reports on
:01:06. > :01:12.the refugees who desperately need help. The real focus is on how to
:01:13. > :01:23.look after the survivors and the sick and injured who have come down
:01:24. > :01:25.from the mountains. Bridget Kendall assesses the diplomatic strategy
:01:26. > :01:29.behind Britain and America's current intervention in Iraq.
:01:30. > :01:34.We look at what's behind the group that is now the new face of global
:01:35. > :01:38.jihad. For ISIS to control territory into different countries with a
:01:39. > :01:41.large number of fighters requires a high degree of organisation and
:01:42. > :01:46.sophistication. And the caliphate debate. We asked young British
:01:47. > :01:54.Mawson is what an Islamic state means to them. `` Muslims. Any
:01:55. > :01:58.Muslim who he is the caliphate has been established, they will flock to
:01:59. > :02:05.that place. God forbid if ISIS is brought here, it will be very
:02:06. > :02:08.problematic and I worry for that. The United Nations declared its
:02:09. > :02:15.highest level of emergency in Iraq because of the humanitarian crisis
:02:16. > :02:18.in the north. It warned thousands of men, women and children stranded on
:02:19. > :02:27.a mountain besieged by militants without food and water were in
:02:28. > :02:30.desperate need of help. Later, President Obama said that air
:02:31. > :02:35.strikes had broken the siege of Mount Sinjar and conditions were not
:02:36. > :02:38.as areas as previously thought. Paul Wood travelled to the mountain to
:02:39. > :02:46.speak to the people still trying to reach safety.
:02:47. > :02:51.This is the one road from Mount Sinjar not controlled by Islamic
:02:52. > :02:56.State. This harsh and barren terrain the only way of escape for thousands
:02:57. > :03:00.of Yazidis. A few are still making their way out on foot. This family
:03:01. > :03:08.collapsed, exhausted after getting here this morning. Another family
:03:09. > :03:10.told me they had hidden for days, silent and terrified, before
:03:11. > :03:26.sneaking away past bodies in the streets. A few people remain
:03:27. > :03:30.scattered across the mountain. They have cobbled together a camp with
:03:31. > :03:33.supplies dropped by the RAF. It is brutally hot. They have next to
:03:34. > :03:37.nothing. But they say they have no choice but to flee. One man tells me
:03:38. > :03:42.the jihadis put a gun to his head and told him, convert or die. Like
:03:43. > :03:49.everyone here, he says he will never abandon his faith. Sheltered
:03:50. > :03:52.courtesy of the British taxpayer, they are profoundly grateful for the
:03:53. > :04:02.aid they received, but they are also desperate for more military help.
:04:03. > :04:05.They face genocide, they say. First, they came for the Christians, then
:04:06. > :04:11.us, the Yazidis, he says. They are striking all of the minorities. If
:04:12. > :04:15.the international community will not step in, all of us will be
:04:16. > :04:22.destroyed. The only soldiers confronting the Islamic State in
:04:23. > :04:32.this part of Iraq are the Kurds. The US and Britain are determined not to
:04:33. > :04:35.send troops. But even with US air support, there is not much that
:04:36. > :04:39.these lightly armed Kurds can do. They are stuck here, along with
:04:40. > :04:42.those who fled. By one count, more than 100,000 terrified Yazidis fled
:04:43. > :04:45.over this mountain, many of them at risk of dying from the heat or of
:04:46. > :04:48.thirst. A humanitarian catastrophe has been averted. Most people have
:04:49. > :04:51.moved on. There are just a few stragglers left behind. The question
:04:52. > :04:54.remains ` how are these people and a million other displaced Iraqis going
:04:55. > :05:02.to get home when the Islamic State controls so much of the country?
:05:03. > :05:10.The refugee camp's overstretched. They squat by the side of the road
:05:11. > :05:14.in despair. The Yazidis don't hold out much help either of a foreign
:05:15. > :05:17.intervention to defeat the jihadis. After thousands of years in this
:05:18. > :05:30.part of Iraq, these people are afraid they no longer have a place
:05:31. > :05:33.here. Supplies of arms and aid to Iraq
:05:34. > :05:36.have been stepped up in an international push to tackle IS
:05:37. > :05:43.militant and help those who fled their advance. US cent in extra 130
:05:44. > :05:45.military advisers to the region. France said it would arm Kurdish
:05:46. > :05:51.fighters against the militants and Britain sent Chinook helicopter is
:05:52. > :05:54.to help relief effort. We travelled to Mount Sinjar on one of the Iraqi
:05:55. > :05:58.helicopters involved in dropping eight.
:05:59. > :06:02.In a quiet corner of Iraqi Kurdistan, a couple of old Soviet
:06:03. > :06:09.helicopters are waiting to be loaded. This is everything. ``
:06:10. > :06:14.everything the Kurds have two help tens of thousands trapped in a
:06:15. > :06:18.neighbouring mountain. This woman is a British curd and has only just
:06:19. > :06:24.arrived today. We saw lots of displaced Yazidis. It was an
:06:25. > :06:30.horrific scene to see. I can't imagine what is waiting there on the
:06:31. > :06:33.mountains for us to see. After four hour was waiting for patrol, the
:06:34. > :06:38.helicopter finally takes off to Sinjar mountains. Transporting aid
:06:39. > :06:47.by road is a dangerous mission. This small helicopter is to `` is packed
:06:48. > :06:50.with food, water and medicine. Islamic State militants control
:06:51. > :06:55.swathes of land in this region. The crew frequently come under attack.
:06:56. > :07:03.We were lucky this time. After 40 minutes in the air, we finally reach
:07:04. > :07:08.them. In the past ten days, tens of thousands of the minority Yazidis
:07:09. > :07:15.act are trapped on the mountain. `` set. When we tried to land, we were
:07:16. > :07:23.overwhelmed by people trying to jump onboard. On this flight, about a
:07:24. > :07:31.dozen made it out. The theory is, many might not survive. `` the fear
:07:32. > :07:36.is. There is little water and food. These people take what they can.
:07:37. > :07:42.They have lost many loved ones and hold on to those who remain.
:07:43. > :07:48.Finally, a safe landing back at the base. Those who made it onto the
:07:49. > :07:52.helicopter will now head to the relative safety of the refugee camp
:07:53. > :08:01.in Kurdistan. But this handful were the lucky ones. Just a fraction of
:08:02. > :08:02.the thousands still suffering fear and despair on the besieged
:08:03. > :08:11.fountain. Many of the thousands of Yazidi who
:08:12. > :08:16.fled Mount Sinjar have reached the relative safety of the Turkish
:08:17. > :08:19.border. Kurdish officials say the situation there is now critical.
:08:20. > :08:23.400,000 Iraqis have taken refuge in the province. Caroline Wyatt reports
:08:24. > :08:30.from where people are in urgent need of tents, food and water.
:08:31. > :08:34.Volunteer Kurdish medical teams have been risking their lives to reach
:08:35. > :08:42.Mount Sinjar to treat the injured and sick. These are the images they
:08:43. > :08:49.brought back. But over the past few days, the numbers still stranded
:08:50. > :08:52.there have diminished. But many of the most vulnerable survivors are
:08:53. > :08:56.still arriving in Iraqi Kurdistan in urgent need of treatment. In one day
:08:57. > :09:04.alone, hospitals in Dahok treated up to 800 casualties. This man is 80.
:09:05. > :09:13.In the exodus, even the old had to walk to survive. He told me he had
:09:14. > :09:24.to go on foot down the mountain, for over 50 kilometres. His journey took
:09:25. > :09:27.days. In Dohuk now, the real focus is on how to look after the
:09:28. > :09:31.survivors, how to treat the sick and injured who have come down and how
:09:32. > :09:34.to prevent any outbreak of disease, thanks to the conditions that many
:09:35. > :09:36.refugees are now living in. The Yazidi families who made it to
:09:37. > :09:50.safety remain in these abandoned buildings or in schools, in their
:09:51. > :09:59.thousands. Maybe in a few days, we may face some endemic diseases, we
:10:00. > :10:01.don't know. We may have an epidemic of cholera, polio or measles,
:10:02. > :10:07.because the places where they live now, they are just public buildings.
:10:08. > :10:17.Existing refugee camps are already full. Dohuk province is now home to
:10:18. > :10:21.400,000 people fleeing Islamic State fighters, doubling the population
:10:22. > :10:25.here. Support from outside is what they need here, and some of that was
:10:26. > :10:28.visible last night in the form of another RAF air drop of aid to Mount
:10:29. > :10:31.Sinjar, although it seems there will be no US rescue after American
:10:32. > :10:37.special forces landed on the mountain to assess what needed to be
:10:38. > :10:39.done. The bottom line is that the situation on the mountain has
:10:40. > :10:45.greatly improved, and Americans should be proud of our efforts.
:10:46. > :10:48.Because of the skill and professionalism of our military and
:10:49. > :10:58.the generosity of our people, we broke the siege of Mount Sinjar. We
:10:59. > :11:01.helped vulnerable people reach safety and we helped save many
:11:02. > :11:04.innocent lives. Last night, these Chinooks arrived at Cyprus after
:11:05. > :11:16.flying from the UK, waiting to play their part in bringing help to Iraq.
:11:17. > :11:21.Three months ago, Iraq was essentially being left to itself.
:11:22. > :11:27.Now, after the lightning land gripes by Islamic State, the West is being
:11:28. > :11:31.drawn back into the region. When the US and Britain refused to go into
:11:32. > :11:38.Syria for so long, why intervene in Iraq now? Bridget Kendall reports.
:11:39. > :11:43.The British commitment to northern Iraq is steadily increasing. Tornado
:11:44. > :11:46.jets took off today to provide surveillance for new aid deliveries.
:11:47. > :11:58.Now the government has decided to deploy Chinook helicopters as well.
:11:59. > :12:01.There is a balance to be struck between the risks of doing this
:12:02. > :12:03.against the accuracy. We take that carefully into consideration when we
:12:04. > :12:07.are planning these humanitarian missions. The US involvement is
:12:08. > :12:09.growing as well. There has only been a handful of airstrikes to reduce
:12:10. > :12:12.the threat of Islamic State militants. But there are hundreds of
:12:13. > :12:18.American troops and trainers on the ground. When the US and Britain have
:12:19. > :12:24.so long refused to intervene and Syria, why intervene in Iraq now?
:12:25. > :12:27.The US and its allies have deep`seated interest in Iraq, due to
:12:28. > :12:33.its profitable oil industry and for historical reasons as well. Two wars
:12:34. > :12:41.fought there since 1990 and the US led occupation after the fall of
:12:42. > :12:50.Saddam Hussein. If Iraq implodes, the West will share some of the
:12:51. > :12:53.blame. The big issue here is that due to safeguarding investment,
:12:54. > :12:56.there are also safeguarding the investments of other countries. That
:12:57. > :12:58.is what is happening. They see Iraq as more valuable from an economic
:12:59. > :13:07.standpoint, from a strategic standpoint and also valuable from a
:13:08. > :13:10.security standpoint. But if the West wants its
:13:11. > :13:13.intervention in Iraq to stay limited, what is the long`term
:13:14. > :13:16.strategy? The short answer is to stave off the worst. An Islamic
:13:17. > :13:21.State victory, turning Iraq into a haven of terrorism. Or internal
:13:22. > :13:30.sectarian tensions tearing the country apart. The west's strategy
:13:31. > :13:32.in this case is to buy time. They have to somehow preserve the
:13:33. > :13:35.government in Baghdad, preserve a Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq to
:13:36. > :13:38.hold as much of Iraq together as possible. If they do not do
:13:39. > :13:46.something, Iraq will simply disappear.
:13:47. > :13:49.It is not just the West's concerns over how to solve Iraq's crisis that
:13:50. > :13:52.matter. A new central government in Baghdad strong enough to hold the
:13:53. > :13:54.country together and counter the extremist threat would only work
:13:55. > :13:58.with support from Iran as well. Which is why Tehran's backing today
:13:59. > :14:07.for the new Prime Minister is so important. But it could be Iraq's
:14:08. > :14:12.crisis is already out of control. The identity of the group formerly
:14:13. > :14:18.known as ISIS that now calls itself Islamic State is not entirely clear,
:14:19. > :14:24.that it has declared a caliphate along the Iraq and Syria border. Our
:14:25. > :14:36.reporter has been investigating what we know about the shadowy group that
:14:37. > :14:38.has become the face of global Jihad. The self`styled caliphate is
:14:39. > :14:44.restoring the boundaries in the east. Islamic State now control
:14:45. > :14:49.significant parts of Iraq and Syria, including cities, oil fields
:14:50. > :14:58.and border crossings. At the centre of the group is this manner. `` man.
:14:59. > :15:07.Islamic State fighters pledged allegiance to him directly. This is
:15:08. > :15:11.exactly what you would expect from a cult of personality. There is a
:15:12. > :15:27.never`ending praise for him. It is how much the Islamic
:15:28. > :15:31.State now resembles a classic cult. With the declaration of a caliphate,
:15:32. > :15:38.he is in many ways the new figurehead of global Jihad. Vice
:15:39. > :15:42.magazine recently some celebrations at monks supporters, but the
:15:43. > :15:52.declaration also brought them into conflict with other jihadis in the
:15:53. > :16:02.sphere. That is notably Kolkata. `` Al`Qaeda. Although they were born at
:16:03. > :16:12.the same place, it is cause problems. This man had a tense
:16:13. > :16:17.relationship with Al`Qaeda. He was famed for beheading captives and
:16:18. > :16:27.bombing indiscriminately. This was criticised by a kite.
:16:28. > :16:39.`` Al`Qaeda. Baghdadi Prefers that approach. They consider a lot of his
:16:40. > :16:46.tactics to be unproductive. They didn't stop him and he is now the
:16:47. > :16:56.heir of that. It is a completely different approach to Al Qaeda in
:16:57. > :17:00.terms of strategy and ideology. Vice magazine
:17:01. > :17:09.also filmed them on patrol. They have been involved in the governing
:17:10. > :17:15.of a functioning state, or even producing accounts. This provides a
:17:16. > :17:21.very high degree of organisational sophistication. Their record`keeping
:17:22. > :17:29.is part of that. Al`Qaeda kept records as well, but for ISIS to do
:17:30. > :17:37.that, that suggests sophistication and that is impressive. The question
:17:38. > :17:42.is whether the Islamic State can keep hold of their territory is
:17:43. > :17:51.without alienating the population is under their control. They reignited
:17:52. > :17:58.the debate over the role of an Islamic State. The Ottoman Empire
:17:59. > :18:04.was the last official caliphate. Many feel it is about restoring
:18:05. > :18:16.dignity that has since been lost. A report has been speaking to Muslims
:18:17. > :18:18.from different sects. Everyone's lives here in Britain because they
:18:19. > :18:29.are happy. Why would you want to live under a caliphate? Smoking,
:18:30. > :18:37.drinking, mixing, it is not something that a practising Muslim
:18:38. > :18:40.would want to live under. Any practising Muslim that he is that
:18:41. > :18:46.this has been implemented, they would flock to that place. They want
:18:47. > :18:53.to live under the law of their own God. I live very well in this
:18:54. > :18:57.country. I have all the benefits. I have the NHS. I have schooling. I
:18:58. > :19:03.can step out of my house without the threat of being killed. If you are
:19:04. > :19:19.not happy with Britain offering you the things, and go to replace where
:19:20. > :19:26.you think is Islam is. McCreesh Dyer `` go to a place. The shared
:19:27. > :19:34.interests and live by similar principles, why should they not work
:19:35. > :19:39.together and have a leader? What about thinking the laws of this
:19:40. > :19:47.country are a objectionable and that ISIS is better? People think the
:19:48. > :19:51.British government have put them in a position where they are fearful to
:19:52. > :20:00.practise their religion. When the profit died, why is that something
:20:01. > :20:05.that caused a division? `` prophet. We are looking for something when we
:20:06. > :20:09.can all get together and unify. If something is flawed and caused that
:20:10. > :20:17.division, how can we look to it now? There are so many more opinions. How
:20:18. > :20:21.can we use it now? There is a lot of disagreement in many different
:20:22. > :20:24.schools of thought. If people don't want to disobey the laws of the land
:20:25. > :20:35.and kill and murder and blaspheme, that's the issue. What about the
:20:36. > :20:46.murder of homosexuals? Everyone here would agree it is not a part of this
:20:47. > :20:51.long. `` Islam. It wouldn't be part of that, but it is part of society
:20:52. > :20:55.here. The whole purpose of a caliphate is to bring you closer to
:20:56. > :21:03.God. You can only be united by love and peace. Fighting is not to bring
:21:04. > :21:10.anyone together. The main problem is the separation of the state with a
:21:11. > :21:13.system of government. It is normal. It happened over hundreds of years.
:21:14. > :21:21.I think it is a very Orientalist idea. It is from the east and
:21:22. > :21:29.disconnected to Islam and that makes it scary and is killing people. ``
:21:30. > :21:32.connected. I am happy living here under British law. I think it ISIS
:21:33. > :21:53.came here, it would be problematic and I worry. That is all from this
:21:54. > :21:57.week on Reporters. From the team, by for now. `` bye.