of the munitions came from the u.s. and the most advanced fighter bomber that has ever been constructed finally did see combat last night. the f22 cost $67 billion to build. there are 188 planes that had been built. the pentagon had been reluctant to use it in the past, but it has a significant ability to avoid detection from surface to air missiles. so the decision was made to use the f22 for the first time. it can fly higher and faster than any other bombers in the u.s. arsenal. there are reports that this particular fighter bomber can drop a precision-guided bomb 15 miles away from its target.

the most expensive aircraft the united states has ever built finally did see combat last night. that came at a price tag of $168 billion. a least a few were used last night. one other bit of news that came out that was striking, was again, we talked about the concern that military planners right have, about how syria might try to perhaps shoot down a u.s. aircraft by some groups. the pentagon said that the target acquisition from syrian radar last night was passive. he did he didn't want to get into how the syrians knew to essentially turn off their radar, but the radar was turned off. there was no detection of the systems trying to target or paint u.s. aircraft as they were flying through the region.

let's get some reaction now. general, what stands out to you about what we just learned? >> well, a think a couple of things in addition. i think lieutenant general mayville went to great pains to lay out those photos to demonstrate the united states is doing everything in its power to limit the collateral damage in these operations. 96% of the weapons used were precision weapons. that's an extraordinary number. and even though there will be people suggesting that the americans specifically targeted civilians, i think the main purpose of those pictures was to show that was anything but the case. >> and the pictures where you see these two buildings side by side, one has the roof

essentially blown off in the aftermath. and the point being made that these used these weapons to go specifically after targets as opposed to random bombs that might cause collateral damage. >> that's exactly right. we fully understand in these situations you not only have to achieve the military objective, but the long-term strategic support of the people in those foreign countries, it's essential to limit that collateral damage. >> and the other point you were about to make? >> we used a very interesting term when he talked about the objective of the first night. while the president has said the long-term mission is the degradation and destruction of isil, he specific today last night's operations were meant to disrupt isil. which means that this is only the first phase, as he said,

this is the begin. and by disrupting isil in their logistics base, in their command and control centers, in the sanctuary they have been able to enjoy in syria, that by going against those targets that is going to have an effect inside of iraq. no longer would the isil force be able to continue their offensive without having to look over their shoulder of what is happening in their logistics base. anybody who expected last night to result in the destruction of isil, certainly does not understanding what the military can do. so i think general mayville was exactly right, that last night could probably be characterized as a disruption of the isil forces. although that a much greater effect was sought after the soreson cells that they had inside of syria, as an imnext

threat to at least europe, and possibly the homeland as well. >> what does it mean in military speak when the briefer comes out and says they have every initial indication that the attacks last night were successful. is that regarding in terms of the targets they were going after and destroyed? what does that mean? >> it's very interesting that that was the spokesmen who said successful, but general mayville said it's premature to assess what happened on the ground last night. i think the spokesman was referring to the fact that all of the aircraft returned safely, that most of the targets were hit, but in terms of success, i'm going to wait to hear what bill mayville says. he says they have to do the post strike analysis before they can make any judgment of what happened last night.

>> he also described isil as a well-funded learning organization, and confirmed reports that they are already seeing some of these fighters essentially go into civilian areas, which would indicate that the pentagon's mission, the department's air strikes become much more important in achieving effects in the days and weeks to come. >> that's absolutely right. they are not going to be in open areas in the future. they are going to adapt to what they have seen from last night's attacks. they are going to make modifications, probably by hunkering down among civilian-populated centers. that will limit their ability to operate freely. but it will be far greater limit

on the ability to dig these people out without civilian casualties. >> the use of the f22 raptor. this is the first combat mission for this aircraft. are you surprised? and what is your reaction? >> i wasn't surprised at all. it's a fully capable aircraft, ready to go now. general mayville took a look at what was on the battlefield. and in some of those targets, the f22 was available and there was no reason to keep it on the sidelines. >> thanks so much for joining us. we're going to take a quick break and on the other side bring you all up to date on what is happening here in new york. president obama is due to speak at the united nations at the

climate change meetings at the u.n. later this morning. but again, the news that came out of washington this morning, both from the administration and the pentagon, is that five sunni arab coalition partners participated in the air strikes last night. a predone -- preponderance of the munitions were used by the united states. and this coreson group was in the final plans to execute a major attack, possibly in the homeland, so the decision was made to go after isil and the coreson. you are watching al jazeera america. ♪

>> on the stream, >> hundreds of us sailors who cleaned up after fukashima, say they're suffering from cancer and other health problems, because of radiation. the latest on their billion dollar lawsuit. >> the stream, on al jazeera america welcome back to al jazeera america. david shuster here in new york. you are looking at a live picture of the united nations

where there are a number of meetings to talk about climate changes. president obama is headed to the u.n. in about an hour, but with so many foreign leaders and officials gathered there, there is a lot of discussion on the news from overnight, that the u.s. and five sunni coalition partners attacked in syria last night. syria had essentially turned off its radar for the us-lead aircraft as part of the operation. james bayes is live at the united nations. he has been talking with syrian officials this morning. james what is the latest? this >> reporter: david in the last few minutes have been talking to the syrian foreign minister. he was the chief negotiator in those geneva talks in the

beginning of the year. the president of iran said he thought the actions were illegal. like the earlier statement from damascus, what we heard from the ambassador was somewhat confusing. let me tell you from my notes, his comment they played by the rules. they informed us. and he said that the syrian government was one of the first to support resolution 21-70 last month, which said that all states could do everything they could to try to defeat isil. but i said you were informed by samantha power. did she ask your permission, and did you give it? and he replied. that's a different story. the security council will be meeting here at the united nations, and on this occasion,

president obama is going to be the president of the security council. the u.s. has the rotating presidency this month. around the table will be mainly world leaders, and president obama will have to explain exactly what happened. those air strikes that took place on syrian soil. the president will be here as you say for climate change discussions, which are ongoing here at the united nations, but we're also hearing that he is going to be meeting the arab group of heads of state here at the united nations, and particularly thanking those that were involved in that raid, david. >> it sounds like samantha power gave the courtesy notice that this was coming, but did not ask permission. does the equation change given this was not just an attack on isil, but also attacks on

khorasan in northwest syria? >> i think that's an important new part of the story. the khorasan group is something we haven't talked about in the last few days. i think it's important for u.s. that syria is not going to make a big protest about this. we have got to watch, though, remember, other countries that have a very important voice on the security council. iran says this was illegal. we need to find out what russia is going to say, and we haven't heard a formal response from russia on this right now. at the same time as the climate change meeting is taking place. and there is another meeting taking place in new york chaired by secretary of state john kerry on the issue of isil, and another important player in all of this, david, is turkey. some have felt that turkey has been somewhat lukewarm in its

support. secretary kerry addressed that and said that turkey had those 49 hostages that have now been released, and he felt that now they will be able to conduct additional efforts. >> there was the criticism last night that turkey was not participating in any aspect. it sounds like, based on what secretary kerry said that maybe this changes now, that as he pointed out that the turkish hostages have been released , it sounds like kerry is at least raising the expectation that turkey is starting to step up. >> because of course, if you look at past military operations. the air base in turkey, the nato base, is one of the main places you would look to as a launching pad for your operations. but in 2003 turkey stayed out of that war.

so there has been times when turkey has helped and times when turkey has not helped. but if they are going to provide additional help, i think that would be something that would be welcome. >> i wonder if you could paint a picture for us about what it is like inside the united nations when these leaders are meeting and mingling, and what the opportunities are for essentially the side talk about what has been going on. >> it is a particularly unusual day here. it's always a very hectic gathering. all of the leaders of the world are invited and many decide to come. most leaders decide to come at least every few years. today climate change is the issue. and in the three main chambers, the general assembly, the trustee council, and another chamber, simultaneous meetings,

and in each one there is a head of state speaks every 3 minutes or so. heads of state coming in and out of this bill -- building. and there are all sorts of unexpected moments when people bump into people they aren't expecting. there are genuine moments when people appear next to someone, normally bilateral meetings between two countries are very well arranged weeks in advance, this week is somewhat different. >> james bayes at the united nations. a lot of discussion about the us-lead air strikes last night on islamic state targets in syria. joined by five sunni arab nations, saudi arabia, jordan, bahrain, qatar, and the uae.

we'll be bringing you the latest as president obama gets to the united nations and begins some of these formal but also informal discussions. we're going to take a quick break and join you on the other side of this with more of the president in new york and the latest we have on the air strikes against the islamic state in syria. you're watching al jazeera america.

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this... >> as you can see, it's still a very much volatile situation... >> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the new democracy, let the journalists live. and welcome back to al jazeera america headquarters in new york. da david shuster here. we continue to get more information about the us-lead air strikes on isil and khorasan group in syria last night. we just got information from james bayes that samantha powers did notify the syrian representative at the united nations that an attack was coming, but did not seek syria's permission. and that may be standard

protocol for how this type of operation goes down. let's bring in the former deputy assistant of middle eastern policy. any surprise that the united states would notify the syrian representative, but not ask for permission? >> no, given the circumstances, i think that was exactly the right thing to do. the last thing you want is miscalculation on the battlefield. it was clear we were going against non-government targets. it was clear we had an interest in making sure the syrian aircraft were not used against coalition fighters, so this was a -- a -- an acceptable way -- may not have been diplomatically the right way to do it, but certainly militarily this was the right way to do it. and the syrian response at least, was essentially either turn off the radar or make it passive, so it's not painting

aircraft coming into the region. >> that's right. it probably turned the radars more into what you would expect as air traffic control. they were probably tracking the fighters but not painting or targeting them. >> it came out of the pentagon this morning from the chairman of the joint chiefs earlier this morning, that the united states was a lot more concerned about the khorasan group that a lot of people initially thought. the pentagon said this morning that they had detected that this group was in the final stages of plans to execute major attacks on europe and possibly the u.s. homeland. it sounds like they were a lot more concerned about khorasan than the administration has lead on the last couple of weeks. >> i took away that same impression, david. this is a relatively knew group that people are starting to hear about, based on outstanding

reporting that has been coming out recently. and it may have been one of the reasons that these syrian operations were accelerated. but i'm just speculating at this point, but it was clear from general mayville that that was a primary target of last night's attack. not simply isil, but it even seemed that he indicated that khorasan had been a more important target than isil last night. >> general mayville also brought in slides and photos at the pentagon briefing to underscore the point about the precision munitions that were used. some 96% were precision guided. on the left was a command and control building that isil had been using with equipment on the roof top. and on the right side of the picture was the degradation of the roof.

you said that 96% precision guided is exceptionally high. explain what that means. >> well the cost is considerably higher, and it also goes to the nature of the type of operation we're looking at here. when you are going against tank columns and armored columns and vehicle columns, you don't need to waste precision weapons taking those targets out one by one. that's why you can use regular dumb bombs against those vehicles. but when you are using this high level of precision weapons it says you want pinpoint accuracy, and number two, you are concerned about potential civilian casualties, and number 3 you want to make sure that what you hit you are going to kill, and that's is done with very precision weapons rather than much cheaper dumb bombs.

>> thank you very much. let's bring in randall pinkston now from the white house. we heard from james bayes that while the president will be speaking at the united nations, he will no doubt have small talk chat with a number of leaders about the operations last night. what is the white house expectation as far as those interactions? >> well, we also know that there will be a photo opportunity later this afternoon for members of the coalition that has already agreed to go after isil, including of course, members of the gulf states, the arab nations that participated in the strikes last night, as well as other nations. the administration put up a list of 50 states that are supporting the effort. the participate will continue to try to build support and be putting forth a resolution that

says that no one should be allowed to leave their home country to go to fight for isil. he is trying to get the entire international body to support that resolution, as well as trying to limit its finances. his ability to sell arms and purchase munitions as it leads his fight in iraq and syria. >> randall thank you. the administration will be underscoring the coalition later today with a photo opof the leaders of the five sunni arab countries that joined the united states in the strikes last night against islamic state in syria, jordan, united arab emirates, bahrain, and qatar. the pentagon saying they are already seeing plans that isil fighters are beginning to

disperse. morning that the next stage of the operation could be even more difficult. i'm david shuster at al jazeera headquarters in new york. we're going to have more news after this quick break. and then take president participate live at 12:50. thanks for watching.

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the u.s. and five arab allies.com targets inside syria. >> this is not america's fight alone. above all the people and governments in the middle east are rejecting isil. ♪ hello, i'm here on al jazeera live from doha. also on the program. yemen's president warning of an all-out civil war as rebels take over large parts of the capitol. israel shoots dead two palestinians it says they are accused