The U.S., for the first time, uses the MOAB bomb....So what?

[usmbguest5318]

It's coming over the news that the U.S. forces for the first time, so we're told, dropped the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on one (several?) ISIS positions in Afghanistan. So what? Why does anyone need to know that? The whole world knows that the U.S. is actively fighting ISIS in Iraq and Afghanistan. It should not come as a surprise that the U.S. drops bombs there, big ones, little ones, and in-between ones.

Do you really give a damn what specific munitions the U.S. uses? Do you just care that U.S. forces have and use the appropriate munition for the situation they face? The latter is all I care about. I don't care what type of conventional weapons U.S. forces use in combat.

I'm wondering why the hell we'd advertise that we've dropped the most destructive/powerful bomb in our inventory. If there were any doubt in our opponents' mind about the force limit of our bombs, well, now they need no longer wonder. The problem with that is that now that we've told everyone that we used the MOAB, anyone to whom it matters knows what they must do to protect themselves from it. Better, IMO, to have just dropped the thing and discussed the results it achieved. There's no need to disclose that we dropped the "biggest, baddest" bomb we have.

 

[kiwiman127]

It's coming over the news that the U.S. forces for the first time, so we're told, dropped the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on one (several?) ISIS positions in Afghanistan. So what? Why does anyone need to know that? The whole world knows that the U.S. is actively fighting ISIS in Iraq and Afghanistan. It should not come as a surprise that the U.S. drops bombs there, big ones, little ones, and in-between ones.

Do you really give a damn what specific munitions the U.S. uses? Do you just care that U.S. forces have and use the appropriate munition for the situation they face? The latter is all I care about. I don't care what type of conventional weapons U.S. forces use in combat.

I'm wondering why the hell we'd advertise that we've dropped the most destructive/powerful bomb in our inventory. If there were any doubt in our opponents' mind about the force limit of our bombs, well, now they need no longer wonder. The problem with that is that now that we've told everyone that we used the MOAB, anyone to whom it matters knows what they must do to protect themselves from it. Better, IMO, to have just dropped the thing and discussed the results it achieved. There's no need to disclose that we dropped the "biggest, baddest" bomb we have.

Dropping the MOAB was a deliberate attempt to divert attention from Trump's small, small hands!

 

[usmbguest5318]

It's coming over the news that the U.S. forces for the first time, so we're told, dropped the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on one (several?) ISIS positions in Afghanistan. So what? Why does anyone need to know that? The whole world knows that the U.S. is actively fighting ISIS in Iraq and Afghanistan. It should not come as a surprise that the U.S. drops bombs there, big ones, little ones, and in-between ones.

Do you really give a damn what specific munitions the U.S. uses? Do you just care that U.S. forces have and use the appropriate munition for the situation they face? The latter is all I care about. I don't care what type of conventional weapons U.S. forces use in combat.

I'm wondering why the hell we'd advertise that we've dropped the most destructive/powerful bomb in our inventory. If there were any doubt in our opponents' mind about the force limit of our bombs, well, now they need no longer wonder. The problem with that is that now that we've told everyone that we used the MOAB, anyone to whom it matters knows what they must do to protect themselves from it. Better, IMO, to have just dropped the thing and discussed the results it achieved. There's no need to disclose that we dropped the "biggest, baddest" bomb we have.

Dropping the MOAB was a deliberate attempt to divert attention from Trump's small, small hands!

Maybe so....It's damn shame that, with regard to Trump, one cannot, out of hand, rule out such preposterously absurd possibilities.

 

[Auld Phart]

Fastest way to let Russia, N Korea, China, etc find out.

No sense making them wait til their spies pass the information to them.

 

[toomuchtime_]

It's coming over the news that the U.S. forces for the first time, so we're told, dropped the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on one (several?) ISIS positions in Afghanistan. So what? Why does anyone need to know that? The whole world knows that the U.S. is actively fighting ISIS in Iraq and Afghanistan. It should not come as a surprise that the U.S. drops bombs there, big ones, little ones, and in-between ones.

Do you really give a damn what specific munitions the U.S. uses? Do you just care that U.S. forces have and use the appropriate munition for the situation they face? The latter is all I care about. I don't care what type of conventional weapons U.S. forces use in combat.

I'm wondering why the hell we'd advertise that we've dropped the most destructive/powerful bomb in our inventory. If there were any doubt in our opponents' mind about the force limit of our bombs, well, now they need no longer wonder. The problem with that is that now that we've told everyone that we used the MOAB, anyone to whom it matters knows what they must do to protect themselves from it. Better, IMO, to have just dropped the thing and discussed the results it achieved. There's no need to disclose that we dropped the "biggest, baddest" bomb we have.

Here's why

The basic operational concept bears some similarity to the BLU-82 Daisy Cutter, which was used to clear heavily wooded areas in the Vietnam War and in Iraq to clear mines and later as a psychological weapon against the Iraqi military. After the psychological impact of the BLU-82 on enemy soldiers was witnessed, and no BLU-82 weapons remained, the MOAB was developed partly to continue the ability to intimidate Iraqi soldiers. Pentagon officials had suggested their intention to use MOAB as an anti-personnel weapon, as part of the "shock and awe" strategy integral to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[7]

GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast - Wikipedia

 

[NightFox]

It's coming over the news that the U.S. forces for the first time, so we're told, dropped the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on one (several?) ISIS positions in Afghanistan. So what? Why does anyone need to know that? .

Because shit like that gives the neocons a collective hard-on, which is good because if you don't keep the neocons distracted with large explosions and dramatic displays of destruction they start thinking about new countries to invade.

 

[Compost]

We've been told how difficult it is to fight the enemy because they are hiding in caves, blah blah blah. So, it turns out we have a bomb that will destroy them and their hidey holes. I'm left wondering why this bomb wasn't used years ago.

 

[jc456]

It's coming over the news that the U.S. forces for the first time, so we're told, dropped the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on one (several?) ISIS positions in Afghanistan. So what? Why does anyone need to know that? .

Because shit like that gives the neocons a collective hard-on, which is good because if you don't keep the neocons distracted with large explosions and dramatic displays of destruction they start thinking about new countries to invade.

cause we enjoy winning .

 

[JBond]

It's coming over the news that the U.S. forces for the first time, so we're told, dropped the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on one (several?) ISIS positions in Afghanistan. So what? Why does anyone need to know that? .

Because shit like that gives the neocons a collective hard-on, which is good because if you don't keep the neocons distracted with large explosions and dramatic displays of destruction they start thinking about new countries to invade.

Its a hell of a lot better than arming and funding terrorists. Trump is cleaning up Obama's mess.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Fastest way to let Russia, N Korea, China, etc find out.

No sense making them wait til their spies pass the information to them.

That bomb has existed in the U.S. munitions inventory for some decade or more. Perhaps, however, the connections the Russians have with the new Administration were (have?) allowed them to obtain the device's performance specs. If so, then, yes, I suppose disclosing the information to all obviates the need for the spies in question to bother obtaining it, thus freeing them up to do other things.

 

[NightFox]

We've been told how difficult it is to fight the enemy because they are hiding in caves, blah blah blah. So, it turns out we have a bomb that will destroy their hidey holes. I'm left wondering why this bomb wasn't used years ago.

The military has been using similar weapons for this type of target for years (thermobaric fuel-air bombs) apparently they broke out the MOAB 'cause P-Don needed a bump in his approval ratings with the warhawk crowd in Washington.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Bet the loud bang made the camels jittery!

 

[JBond]

We've been told how difficult it is to fight the enemy because they are hiding in caves, blah blah blah. So, it turns out we have a bomb that will destroy their hidey holes. I'm left wondering why this bomb wasn't used years ago.

The military has been using similar weapons for this type of target for years (thermobaric fuel-air bombs) apparently they broke out the MOAB 'cause P-Don needed a bump in his approval ratings with the warhawk crowd in Washington.

Only a liberal would be that shallow. Remember Clinton bombings during his impeachment?

 

[usmbguest5318]

We've been told how difficult it is to fight the enemy because they are hiding in caves, blah blah blah. So, it turns out we have a bomb that will destroy their hidey holes. I'm left wondering why this bomb wasn't used years ago.

The military has been using similar weapons for this type of target for years (thermobaric fuel-air bombs) apparently they broke out the MOAB 'cause P-Don needed a bump in his approval ratings with the warhawk crowd in Washington.

apparently they broke out the MOAB 'cause P-Don needed a bump in his approval ratings with the warhawk crowd in Washington.

Perhaps....I'd have thought the action in Syria had done that.

 

[NightFox]

Its a hell of a lot better than arming and funding terrorists. Trump is cleaning up Obama's mess.

Yes, I know , it all boils down to a binary choice between "arming and funding terrorists" and dropping a MOAB.....

 

[Compost]

We've been told how difficult it is to fight the enemy because they are hiding in caves, blah blah blah. So, it turns out we have a bomb that will destroy their hidey holes. I'm left wondering why this bomb wasn't used years ago.

The military has been using similar weapons for this type of target for years (thermobaric fuel-air bombs) apparently they broke out the MOAB 'cause P-Don needed a bump in his approval ratings with the warhawk crowd in Washington.

Prove that Trump did it for "approval ratings".

If they've used this sort of bomb before and it was somewhat successful, using the bigger one was the obvious thing to do. That is, if you want to win the war. You know, and bring home our troops.

 

[JBond]

Its a hell of a lot better than arming and funding terrorists. Trump is cleaning up Obama's mess.

Yes, I know , it all boils down to a binary choice between "arming and funding terrorists" and dropping a MOAB.....

Obama contracted out his dirty work. He learned nothing from history. Tons of weapons have flowed to terrorists during the Obama regime, now we must clean up the mess. Maybe you should volunteer to clean out the terror tunnels. I prefer to keep our troops as safe as possible.

 

[Auld Phart]

Fastest way to let Russia, N Korea, China, etc find out.

No sense making them wait til their spies pass the information to them.

That bomb has existed in the U.S. munitions inventory for some decade or more. Perhaps, however, the connections the Russians have with the new Administration were (have?) allowed them to obtain the device's performance specs. If so, then, yes, I suppose disclosing the information to all obviates the need for the spies in question to bother obtaining it, thus freeing them up to do other things.

doesn't surprise me a bit someone would take that view of my post.

Foreign Leader (country optional): What was that, a major earthquake?

Foreign spy: dont' know, we'll find out.

(hours later)

Foreign spy: Leader, the Americans dropped a bomb in Afghanistan.

NO need to waste all that time, TELL them we just the M(F)OAB.

(considering the last 3 presidents, the odds they didn't have the specs is remote)

 

[The Irish Ram]

Then again, it could be our 3 biggest bomb, and we are keeping the other 2 secret. That's what I'd do.
KABOOM, fooled ya!

 

[playtime]

We've been told how difficult it is to fight the enemy because they are hiding in caves, blah blah blah. So, it turns out we have a bomb that will destroy their hidey holes. I'm left wondering why this bomb wasn't used years ago.

The military has been using similar weapons for this type of target for years (thermobaric fuel-air bombs) apparently they broke out the MOAB 'cause P-Don needed a bump in his approval ratings with the warhawk crowd in Washington.

Prove that Trump did it for "approval ratings".

If they've used this sort of bomb before and it was somewhat successful, using the bigger one was the obvious thing to do. That is, if you want to win the war. You know, and bring home our troops.

prove he didn't.