美官員：奧巴馬授權在敘上空進行偵察飛行

A senior White House official says U.S. President Barack Obama has authorized surveillance flights over Syria.

The official said late Monday that Mr. Obama has not approved any military action, but that the U.S. is preparing military options for combating the Islamic State fighters who have taken over large areas in eastern Syria and northern and western Iraq.

U.S. planes have been carrying out airstrikes in Iraq, helping Iraqi and Kurdish forces take back territory from the militants, including a dam in Mosul that is key to providing power to many in Iraq.

Pentagon officials have expressed the need to go after the Islamic State group on both sides of the border.

The operation is complicated by the ongoing civil war in Syria. White House officials say Mr. Obama does not want U.S. action to be seen as aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has repeatedly blamed "terrorists" for the conflict that has raged in his country for more than three years.白宮一名高層官員說，美國總統奧巴馬已經授權在敘利亞上空進行偵察飛行。

這位官員星期一晚間說，奧巴馬沒有批准採取軍事行動，但美國正準備打擊伊斯蘭國武裝分子的選擇性軍事方案。伊斯蘭國武裝分子佔領了敘利亞東部以及伊拉克北部和西部的大片地區。

美國戰機曾對伊拉克進行空襲，幫助伊拉克和庫爾德軍隊奪回激進分子佔領的地區，包括摩蘇爾大壩。這座水壩對伊拉克很多地區的供電至關重要。
五角大樓官員表示，有必要在敘利亞境內和境外對伊斯蘭國實施打擊。

這一行動由於敘利亞內戰而變得複雜化。白宮官員說，奧巴馬總統不希望美國的行動被看做對敘利亞總統阿薩德的援助。阿薩德屢次將國內衝突歸咎於“恐怖分子”。敘利亞內戰已經持續了3年多。