The humanitarian mission that began Thursday night was conducted over Iraq’s northern Kurdish region. It included  air drops by two C-130 and one C-17 cargo aircraft escorted by two F/A-18 Super Hornets, from the USS George H. W. Bush carrier group in the northern Persian Gulf. said. The operation was led by U.S. Central Command and so far involved the dropping of pallets of food, water and other supplies over the Sinjar mountain where approximately 40,000 Iraqis from the Yazidi minority are stranded and trapped by forces of the radical Islamic State - aka ISIL/ISIS. U.S. aircraft spent about 15 minutes flying at a low altitude over the drop zone, exposed to militants who have surface-to-air weapons. In total the air drop last night included about 8,000 meals ready to eat (MRE) and 5,300 gallons of drinking water. Additional air drops will continue “as needed,” according to DoD officials.  However, it’s going to take more than that amount to assist...(Read Full Post)