Iraq Crisis: Beheadings, Sharia Imposed as #ISIS Encircles Baghdad; 1,700 Shia Troops Executed; Refugee Crisis Mushrooms

Richard Engel at NBC News reports that ISIS jihadists have imposed sharia law on Mosul as they continue their incursion into Baghdad. See Washington Free Beacon, "Engel: Sharia Law Being Imposed, Militants Advancing Towards Baghdad."



ISIS brutality escalates, according to London's' Daily Mail, "Beheaded in his own bedroom: Iraq jihadists release horrific videos showing a policeman dragged from his bed and decapitated and motorists gunned down in random drive-by shootings: Battle lines drawn as Iraqi forces gather at base just 20 miles outside Baghdad after militants seize two more towns."

Baghdad residents are preparing for battle as ISIS inches closing to the city center. At Sky News UK, "Iraqis Told: 'Take Up Arms And Defend Country'."

More at Telegraph UK, "Iraq crisis: ISIS claims to have executed 1,700 Shia soldiers."

Also at the Huffington Post, "Iraq Refugee Population Increased By Nearly 800,000 This Year: UN."

And at the New York Times, "Iraqi Shiite Cleric Issues Call to Arms Against Sunni Militants."

As this post goes live President Obama is expected to deliver an address on the crisis. Barbara Starr at CNN is reporting a U.S. carrier group is being repositioned from the Arabian Sea to the Persian Gulf, should the administration call for airstrikes.

Expect updates...

ADDED: Here's CNN's breaking tweet the U.S. naval deployment, and as this update goes live the president is giving his press conference on the crisis:

Official: US to move aircraft carrier to Persian Gulf for possibility of airstrikes against militants in Iraq http://t.co/a7pyHS9thy
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 13, 2014

Obama to Iraq: You're on your own.

— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) June 13, 2014