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U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft flew more than 2,700 missions to combat Islamic State in Iraq even before President Barack Obama announced an expanded military campaign against the Sunni extremists.

The 2,749 sorties through yesterday include surveillance and refueling aircraft, providing a fuller measure of the scope of operations than the 156 airstrikes that have been announced through today in statements by U.S. Central Command.

Surveillance aircraft spot potential targets, and refueling in flight lets U.S. combat aircraft loiter over an area, perhaps for hours, to observe, classify, verify and in some cases attack militants positions. Thats allowed U.S. fliers to drop 253 bombs and missiles that destroyed 212 Islamic State targets such as Humvees, checkpoints and armed vehicles, according to the Pentagon.

Obama said in his televised speech last night that hes ordered a systematic campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq, beyond the original rationales of protecting our own people and humanitarian missions.

However, Obama, senior military officers and outside analysts all have emphasized that airpower alone cant destroy or even significantly degrade Islamic State. Underscoring that, the Central Intelligence Agency today increased its rough estimate of the number of fighters the extremist group can muster in Syria and Iraq to a range of 20,000 to 31,500, up from 10,000 in May, according to the agency.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters hold a position during fighting against Islamic State militants in Rashad, on the road between Kirkuk and Tikrit, on Sept. 11, 2014. Close

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Kurdish Peshmerga fighters hold a position during fighting against Islamic State militants in Rashad, on the road between Kirkuk and Tikrit, on Sept. 11, 2014.

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U.S. Flew 2,700 Iraq Missions Before Obamas New Push