AP FACT CHECK: Bush numbers off on bombing missions in Syria

GOOSE LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush frequently pans the Obama administration's war against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria for being too timid in its bombing campaign.

Pentagon data show that as of Oct. 31, about 58 percent of the 24,255 air combat missions flown since August 2014 returned without dropping munitions.

Even those numbers can be a bit misleading, however, because some of the fighter jets are escorts that are designed to protect other coalition aircraft and, while they are armed and can drop munitions, they don't have assigned targets.

When fighter jets reach their target areas, the pilots may find that the trucks they were supposed to bomb have left, or the buildings they were going to level are now filled with civilians or children.

The orders, which include the target, the designated aircraft and its home country, are approved by the CAOC commander, currently Lt. Gen. Charles Brown Jr., the head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command.