Q: NBC recently reported that the United States is sending 30-plus state-of-the-art jets to Iraq. Why? Do we have a treaty that requires us to send fighter jets to Iraq?
—David Lariscy, Marietta
A: The United States is supplying Iraq with 36 F-16 fighter jets to help the country combat Islamic militants.
The first four F-16s were delivered last month and a State Department spokesman said the United States would help Iraq protect the jets from the group that calls itself the Islamic State.
Iraqi pilots have been training in the United States to fly the F-16s.
“The Strategic Framework Agreement for a Relationship of Friendship and Cooperation between the United States and the Republic of Iraq” is “designed to help the Iraqi people stand on their own and reinforce Iraqi sovereignty,” the United States Embassy in Iraq states on its website.
Q: What is the reason for all the terrible weather the past few months in the Midwest and upper Midwest?
—Bob Turner, Atlanta
A: Strong and severe storms are not "out of the ordinary" in the Midwest in the summer, a meteorologist with The Weather Channel told Q&A on the News in a statement.
“Typically, as we head deeper into summer and the temperature rises, the jet stream lifts north, increasing the threat for storms in the high plains, Midwest and even in Canada,” he wrote.
A strong ridge of high pressure (stable air) was centered over the Southeast and Tennessee Valley earlier this summer, forcing “disturbances” to track around that ridge over the plains and Midwest.
With “other factors in place, storms would develop and would follow that same path around the ridge,” he wrote.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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