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posted by takyon on Friday April 14 2017, @01:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the unconventional-conventional dept.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, also known as the "Mother of All Bombs", has been dropped in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. It is the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal.

CNN reports:

The US military has dropped an enormous bomb in Afghanistan, according to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission. A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, nicknamed MOAB, was dropped at 7 p.m. local time Thursday, the sources said. [...] A MOAB is a 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition that is America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb.

The bomb was dropped by an MC-130 aircraft, operated by Air Force Special Operations Command, according to the military sources. They said the target was an ISIS tunnel and cave complex as well as personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province.

Gen. John Nicholson, Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against [ISIS]." The statement said U.S. forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties.

Also at Fox News. The bombing came days after the death of a Green Beret in the same province, but a defense official said the bombing was unrelated. Another official had this to say:

The MOAB had to be dropped out of the back of a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane due to its massive size. "We kicked it out the back door," one U.S. official told Fox News.

Update: The Afghan defence ministry says that 36 ISIS fighters were killed by the strike.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 14 2017, @03:53PM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 14 2017, @03:53PM (#494041)

    Its always amusing when conservative military die-hards make predictions like yours. "They'd better watch out, ol' John 'US' Wayne will drop some MOAB on those rotten scoundrels!"

    The US rode on the laurels of WW2 for a long time, but the rich and powerful have neutered their own country and finally the world is seeing the full extent of the lies. All the tough talk, the world policing, everyone now realizes we're full of shit. Even US citizens are waking up to this fact, and god help the politicians when the conservative base finally wakes up... I'm hopeful that a conservative awakening just might rekindle the old desire for freedom and equality.

  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday April 14 2017, @04:51PM (7 children)

    by kaszz (4211) on Friday April 14 2017, @04:51PM (#494070) Journal

    Didn't the conservative base just awaken in the last election?

    • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday April 14 2017, @05:25PM

      by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Friday April 14 2017, @05:25PM (#494085) Journal

      It got agitated, but it sure didn't wake up. If it had it would never have believed the blatant lies. Or the candidate who had publicly admitted that lying to they powerless was what he considered only good business.

      --
      Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 14 2017, @05:30PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 14 2017, @05:30PM (#494090)

      Conservatives neutered themselves by devolving into nothing more than arbitrary anti-leftism.
      They no longer stand for anything beyond opposition to another tribe.

      • (Score: 2, Disagree) by Thexalon on Friday April 14 2017, @05:50PM (2 children)

        by Thexalon (636) on Friday April 14 2017, @05:50PM (#494109)

        Conservatives neutered themselves by devolving into nothing more than arbitrary anti-leftism. They no longer stand for anything beyond opposition to another tribe.

        Conveniently, the Democrats neutered themselves by devolving into nothing more than arbitrary anti-rightism. They no longer stand for anything beyond opposition to another tribe.

        --
        The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 14 2017, @06:34PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 14 2017, @06:34PM (#494138)

          (a) Your parallel construction fails by substituting "democrats" for liberals and/or progressives.
          (b) If you think that you haven't been paying attention.
          The democratic party supports green power, the right to healthcare and the rights of minorities, just for starters.
          They aren't perfect, but they are definitely defined by what they are for.

          • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Saturday April 15 2017, @02:33PM

            by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Saturday April 15 2017, @02:33PM (#494421) Homepage
            > democratic party supports ... the right to healthcare

            Not that old chestnut. The democratic party, and the republicans before them - Romney, who was behind most of ObamaCare - supported obliging people to give money to insurance companies such that medical bills would be covered. A *compeletely* different thing.

            > The democratic party supports ... the rights of minorities

            Nah, the democratic party wants those niggers voting Democratic for 200 years, even if it was never worded exactly that way.
            --
            Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 2) by dry on Saturday April 15 2017, @03:34AM (1 child)

      by dry (223) on Saturday April 15 2017, @03:34AM (#494288) Journal

      Did you see who they elected last election to clean up Washington?

      • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday April 15 2017, @03:45AM

        by kaszz (4211) on Saturday April 15 2017, @03:45AM (#494296) Journal

        Who should they have voted for instead? someone that had a foundation and run foreign and other policies according to a pay-for-play scheme?

        The choice in these kind of matters rarely about god vs bad and done choices.

  • (Score: 2) by Sulla on Friday April 14 2017, @07:55PM (1 child)

    by Sulla (5173) on Friday April 14 2017, @07:55PM (#494170) Journal

    I tend to think this was less of a "ha this will show them they will get scared and back down" and more of a "Oh god we need to find something that might make them less bold" grasping at straws.

    You can see the desperation in that China is trying to get NK to back down at an accelerated rate.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 15 2017, @02:13AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 15 2017, @02:13AM (#494270)

      NK is good as a foil, but China sure as hell doesn't want their cash cow (US) to start a costly war in the region. They also probably realize NK could very really start WW3 out of petulance, maybe we should support a Chinese takeover of NK? Let the glorious leader go work in a rehabilitation camp raising pigs!