Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said late on Wednesday that a mission to rescue Yazidi refugees on Mount Sinjar was increasingly unlikely to happen because U.S. airstrikes and Kurdish fighters had already freed many of them. Earlier in the day, there were reports that U.S. troops had landed to lead a rescue mission. However, Hagel said there are now significantly fewer refugees. A senior defense official said “the situation is much more manageable,” which means “a rescue effort now is much more unlikely.”
