On Thursday, the United States military dropped the MOAB bomb onto an ISIS stronghold in Afghanistan, marking the first time that such a bomb had been deployed anywhere.
The GBU-43, known as the Massive Ordinance Air Blast Bomb or Mother of All Bombs (MOAB), is the world’s largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in war. It contains 11 tons of explosives and weighs a whopping 22,000 pounds.
The bomb was dropped in Nangarhar province in the Eastern part of Afghanistan, purportedly to target an ISIS stronghold in the region. General John Nicholson, the Commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan reportedly signed off on the dropping of the bomb.
During Thursday afternoon’s press conference, Press Secretary Sean Spicer would not confirm whether or not President Trump had authorized or even had prior knowledge of the bomb. Trump himself, when asked, would also not say that he okayed the bomb, but instead said, “I authorize my military.” The POTUS also praised the actions of the military, making it clear that whether or not he had okayed it before, he was okay with it happening.
Though war-mongers are likely to cheer the decision – and indeed, many on corporate media already have – the human cost of this bomb cannot be understated. Most importantly, the dropping of this massive bomb sets a precedent, and it is almost sure that this won’t be the last President Trump will allow under his leadership.
Abby Martin, a member of the Ring of Fire and host of TeleSUR’s “Empire Files” had this to say about the bomb drop:
“95,000 human beings live in the region that Trump just dropped the biggest non nuclear bomb in Afghanistan, with a blast radius of a mile in every direction, yet the media is uncritically reporting it only hit “ISIS”–No money for healthcare, education or water for Flint, but US always has $314 million to spare to build one big bomb.”
Edward Snowden noted that the very tunnels and buildings that the bomb targeted were paid for by the United States.
.@thenib Those mujahedeen tunnel networks we’re bombing in Afghanistan? We paid for them. #Blowback https://t.co/xokL8VCQqk (via @GabiElenaDohm) pic.twitter.com/VDVsUYahiG
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 13, 2017
Not to be outdone, the Russian government also has it’s own massive bomb, known as the Father of All Bombs because it is approximately four times larger than the MOAB. It’s a thermobaric bomb with a destruction radius of nearly 1,000 feet and a blast yield of nearly 44 tons of TNT.
