US flying F-18 surveillance missions over Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The United States is flying F-18 surveillance missions over Iraq from an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, officials confirmed, as President Obama weighs options for “increased security assistance” in the country.

The surveillance missions are being launched from the USS George HW Bush. It was already known that the Obama administration had authorized “manned and unmanned” surveillance flights, but F-18’s are not traditional surveillance aircraft — they are attack aircraft.

“It’s not so much about looking as it is being seen,” a U.S. official stated.