The United States’ air strikes in Iraq this past week were intended to stop the Islamic State's advance on the Kurdish capital of Erbil and protect members of the Yazidi religious minority who were coming under attack from the Islamic extremists. But are these new air strikes a sign that the U.S. is pivoting to a more limited role in Iraq focused in Kurdistan? Professor of Modern Islam and Director of the Human Rights Initiative at UC Davis Keith Watenpaugh joins us to talk about the ever-evolving situation in Iraq and why the U.S. is intervening in a conflict it recently stepped out of.