Aboard a U.S. Eye in the Sky, Staring Down ISIS in Iraq and Syria
By ERIC SCHMITTDEC. 25, 2016
ABOARD A JOINT STARS SURVEILLANCE PLANE, Over Northern Iraq — Flying at 30,000 feet, the powerful radar aboard this Air Force jet peered deep into Syrian territory, hunting for targets on the ground to strike in the looming offensive to seize Raqqa, the Islamic State’s capital.
It was on a mission like this several weeks ago that analysts discovered a hiding place in the central Syrian desert where the Islamic State was stashing scores of oil tanker trucks that provide the terrorist group with a crucial financial lifeline. Acting on that tip and other intelligence, two dozen American warplanes destroyed 188 of the trucks in the biggest airstrike of the year, eliminating an estimated $2 million in oil revenue for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/25/world/middleeast/aboard-a-us-eye-in-the-sky-staring-down-isis-in-iraq-and-syria.html?_r=0
