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The destroyer USS Mustin launched a Tomahawk missile Sept. 17 in the Pacific Ocean during a simulated strike that was part of Exercise Valiant Shield 2014. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Declan Barnes/Released)
The new round of U.S. military strikes in Syria announced late Monday by the Pentagon against the Islamic State militant group included many of the same weapons and aircraft the Pentagon has used in recent weeks in Iraq. But it included a new wrinkle, too: the use of Tomahawk cruise missiles, likely launched from the eastern Mediterranean Sea by the U.S. Navy.
Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, confirmed the strikes in a statement late Monday. The decision to conduct the strikes was made earlier in the day by Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of U.S. Central Command, Kirby said. The strikes were still ongoing, meaning defense officials were “not in a position to provide additional details at this time,” Kirby said.
The U.S. has launched at least 190 airstrikes in Iraq since President Obama first authorized them Aug. 7 against the Islamic State, the powerful militant group that has seized weapons and territory across sections of Iraq and Syria this year. They’ve been carried out by a mix of fighter jets, bombers and drone aircraft, but the U.S. military had not previously disclosed using Tomahawks against the militants.
The cruise missiles have been used by the U.S. military for decades, most extensively in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq and around the 2003 U.S. invasion of the same country. But they also have been fired more recently at targets in Libya in 2011, and were put in position in the eastern Mediterranean to launch strikes in Syria in August 2013, as the Obama administration accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime of using chemical weapons against its own people.
The Tomahawk strikes in Syria last year were eventually called off, asObama sought congressional approval. On Sept. 14, 2013, Russia and the United States reached an agreement in which Syria’s declared chemical weapons would instead be destroyed at sea by a U.S. crew on the MV Cape Ray, a cargo ship specifically equipped for the mission.
Defense officials did not say Monday night from where the Tomahawk missiles were launched into Syria. Two weeks ago, a Navy official said the USS Cole, a Navy destroyer carrying the missiles, was in the eastern Mediterranean. The missiles also can be launched from U.S. submarines, but defense officials do not commonly disclose where underwater ships in the so-called “Silent Service” are.
The Tomahawk, made by Raytheon, is about 18 feet long and typically carries a 1,000-pound warhead on it. Some versions of it have a range of more than 1,000 miles, Navy officials say. It is typically considered ill-suited to hit moving targets, but can hit stationary targets with precision.
Dan Lamothe covers national security for The Washington Post and anchors its military blog, Checkpoint. end quote from:Tomahawk missiles the latest US weapon used against Islamic State US, Arab allies launch first wave of strikes in Syria
US, Arab allies launch first wave of strikes in Syria
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Bombing strikes begin over Syria
The United States, joined by several Arab allies, launched an intense campaign of airstrikes, bombings and cruise-missile attacks against Islamic State targets in Syria Monday night – marking the first U.S. military intervention in Syria since the start of that country’s civil war.
Sources say the military operation includes fighter jets, B-1 bombers and Predator drones, as well as Tomahawk missiles launched from the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.
Officials say the coalition is targeting about 20 sites, including command-and-control centers, training camps and weapons depots.
U.S. officials told Fox News that several Arab countries – including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – were participating.
The operation was expected to last several hours, with the first explosions from Tomahawk missiles heard near Raqqa, the Islamic State stronghold in northern Syria
U.S. aircraft include B-1 bombers, F-16s, F-18s and Predator drones, with F-18s flying missions off the USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf. Tomahawk missiles were fired from the destroyer USS Arleigh Burke in the Red Sea.
The military strikes come less than two weeks after President Obama, on Sept. 10, authorized U.S. airstrikes inside Syria as part of a broad campaign to root out the Islamic State militant group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
In a nod to his plans to go into Syria, Obama said then, “I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are. That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq."
Until now, U.S. airstrikes have been limited to specific missions in northern Iraq. Lawmakers and military advisers, though, had stressed for weeks that any campaign against the Islamic State would have to include action in Syria, where the militant network is based.
"To defeat ISIS, we must cut off the head of the snake, which exists in Syria," Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in a statement late Monday. "I support the administration’s move to conduct airstrikes against ISIS wherever it exists."
A senior official tells Fox News that President Obama is being briefed by military officials on the operation throughout the night. Earlier in the evening, the president spoke to House Speaker John Boeher, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. A White House official also updated House Majority Leader Kevin McCarty, R-Calif., on the progress of the airstrikes.
Because the United States had stayed out of the Syria conflict for so long, the Obama administration had spent the last several weeks scrambling to gather intelligence about possible targets in Syria, launching surveillance missions over the country last month.
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby released a statement Monday night saying, "I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against ISIL terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.
"Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time. The decision to conduct theses strikes was made earlier today by the U.S. Central Command commander under authorization granted him by the commander in chief. "
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin, Justin Fishel, Ed Henry, and Chad Pergram contributed to this report. end quote from: US, Arab allies launch first wave of strikes in Syria