On Friday, the U.S. launched a series of airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL), a jihadist group making swift gains in Syria and Iraq.
The video below, released by the U.S. Navy, shows two F/A-18 Super Hornets dropping 500 pound laser-guided bombs on ISIS targets near the Kurdish capital of Erbil in Iraq on August 8, according to the Navy's YouTube channel.
The F/A-18s, assigned to Carrier Air Wing 8, came from the USS George H. W. Bush, currently operating on the "Arabian Gulf," according to the Navy.
President Barack Obama authorized the airstrikes to protect U.S. personnel in Iraq and to support humanitarian efforts in the area. Approximately 150 U.S. military advisers, as well as several diplomats, are located in Erbil.
During a press conference Saturday morning, Obama admitted the military operation could serve as a "long-term project."
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