Today's Headlines and Commentary

The United States and its allies began airstrikes in Syria with a massive assault across vast swaths of the country’s airspace last night. Foreign Policy carries the story. President Barack Obama authorized the the strikes, which, according to CENTCOM, involved a “mix of fighter, bomber, and Tomahawk land attack missiles.” Using a fleet of F-15Es, F-16s, FA-18s, B-1 bombers, F-22 Raptors, and Predator drones, the US and its allies carried out 14 attacks against ISIS targets, including “command and control facilities, training compounds, headquarters, storage facilities, a finance center, and supply trucks and armored vehicles.” According to Reuters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 70 ISIS fighters were killed in the strikes. The United States also targeted a little-known group of hardened al Qaeda veterans called Khorasan. Per US intelligence, the militant organization consists of jihadists from all over the globe; more distressingly, intelligence personnel thought the group had possibly reached the operational stage of a plot that included Yemeni bomb makers in an attempt to bring down a US airliner. The core of the group is said to be veteran al Qaeda fighters from Pakistan and Afghanistan who have linked up in Syria with the al Nusra Front. The move to Syria was reportedly aimed at gaining access to Western jihadists with US or European passports, which could be used to access planes and then hijack them. AP has more. In response to this threat, the Pentagon announced Tuesday morning that the US carried out an additional 8 Tomahawk cruise missile airstrikes near Aleppo against Khorasan. According to the Washington Post, the attacks targeted “training camps, an explosives and munitions production facility, a communications, building and command and control facilities.” Reuters reports that 50 fighters and 8 civilians were killed in the strikes. We expect to hear much more on this as many questions remain regarding the group and US actions against them. Today, Pentagon Press Secretary Admiral John Kirby told reporters that “last night’s strikes were only the beginning.” The New York Times reports that the Arab states participating in the airstrikes, whose “intensity and scale...were greater than those launched by the United States in Iraq,” included “Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.” The strikes took place around Raqqa, ISIS’s headquarters, as well as Dayr az Swar, Al Hasakah, and Abu Kamal. Earlier this morning, the US Navy uploaded a video to Youtube of the launch of Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles from the USS Philippine Sea. Over at the National Journal, there are pictures of US forces in action, including the first-ever combat utilization of the new stealth F-22 Raptor. This morning, the Department of Defense provided a before and after photo of a target hit during the F-22’s maiden combat voyage:

Photo shows before and after photos of target by #F22. This was the first time the F22 was used in a combat role. pic.twitter.com/bMma8rxnsK — U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) September 23, 2014