<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body><div>There are fewer and fewer reasons for hope in the human race. I am human and i condemn this action -- I condemn the bombing, I condemn the government that had such a weapon developed</div><div><br></div><div style="font-size:100%;color:#000000"><!-- originalMessage --><div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Karen Aram via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net> </div><div>Date: 4/13/17 21:29 (GMT-06:00) </div><div>To: Peace-discuss List <peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net>, Peace-discuss AWARE <peace-discuss@anti-war.net> </div><div>Subject: [Peace-discuss] Largest non nuclear bomb dropped on Afghanistan, last week, by us. </div><div><br></div></div>
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US drops largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan, first time used in combat</h1>
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<time class="date date_article-header" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.230769em; padding: 0px; display: block; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 1.3em; white-space: nowrap;">Published time: 13 Apr, 2017 16:48</time><time class="date date_article-header" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.230769em; padding: 0px; display: block; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 1.3em; white-space: nowrap;">Edited
time: 13 Apr, 2017 20:23</time></div>
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The US military has used its GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed “the mother of all bombs,” for the first time in combat. The US Air Force used it in Afghanistan to target Islamic State tunnels and personnel.</div>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">The 21,000-pound (9,525 kg) bomb was dropped in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">The Pentagon has confirmed the use of the MOAB, and is currently assessing damage. General John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, signed off on its use, CNN reported. Authority was also
sought from General Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM). See below:</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">The Air Force developed the MOAB in 2003, but it had never been used in combat until 7pm local time on Thursday. The Pentagon produced 15 MOABs at a cost of $16 million per unit, <a href="http://www.deagel.com/Defensive-Weapons/GBU-43B_a000978001.aspx" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: transparent; color: rgb(4, 79, 170); text-decoration: none;" class="">according
to</a> military information website Deagel.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">The use of the bomb comes as the US involvement in Afghanistan heads into its 16th year in the fall, and days after Staff Sergeant Mark De Alencar, a US Special Forces operator, was killed in the same
region.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class=""><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">"The soldier was mortally wounded late Saturday during an operation in Nangarhar Province,"</em> US Navy Captain Bill Salvin tweeted.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class=""><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/384609-us-airstrike-killed-rebels/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: transparent; color: rgb(4, 79, 170); text-decoration: none;" class="">READ
MORE: US-led coalition airstrike mistakenly killed 18 SDF ally fighters in Syria on April 11 – Pentagon</a></strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">The MOAB was designed to target large below-ground areas. It would have <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">“feel like a nuclear weapon to anyone near the area,"</em> Lieutenant Colonel Rick
Francona (ret.) told CNN.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">The GPS-guided munition would have already been in country before it was dropped out of an MC-130 aircraft, operated by Air Force Special Operations Command, military sources told CNN’s Barbara Starr.</p>
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U.S. military statement on GBU-43 bomb used against ISIS in Afghanistan: "U.S. Forces took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties." <a href="https://t.co/sWKRMhStvc" class="media customisable PrettyLink link" data-pre-embedded="true" dir="ltr" data-scribe="" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(43, 123, 185); text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">pic.twitter.com/sWKRMhStvc</a></p>
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CENTCOM after U.S. drops GBU-43 bomb on ISIS targets in Afghanistan: U.S. "will continue offensive operations until ISIS-K is destroyed." <a href="https://t.co/qyrNXhpQbu" class="media customisable PrettyLink link" data-pre-embedded="true" dir="ltr" data-scribe="" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(43, 123, 185); text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">pic.twitter.com/qyrNXhpQbu</a></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class=""><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">“The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and U.S. Forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K
fighters and facilities,”</em> CENTCOM said in a statement, referring to Islamic State Khorasan, the branch of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">Nicholson described the MOAB as <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">“the right munition to reduce”</em> the improvised explosive devices (IEDs), bunkers and tunnels IS is using to <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">“thicken
their defense.”</em> The bomb will also <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">“maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K,”</em> he said.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">The Air Force <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">“took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties,”</em> CENTCOM said.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class=""><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/384420-pentagon-syria-tomahawk-efficiency/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: transparent; color: rgb(4, 79, 170); text-decoration: none;" class="">READ
MORE: US Tomahawk strike on Syria as effective as dropping missiles from air balloons – Russia’s MoD</a></strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">President Donald Trump told reporters that he's given the military<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""> "total authorization," </em>and<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""> "that's
why they've been so successful lately."</em></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">When asked if the use of the MOAB in Afghanistan might send a message to North Korea amid increased tensions with the isolated country, Trump replied: <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="">"I
don't know if it sends a message, I don't care if it does or not."</em></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 0px;" class="">A peace conference on Afghanistan is scheduled to begin on Friday in Moscow, involving the Afghan government and representatives of twelve other nations. The US was invited to the conference, but reportedly
declined to participate.</p>
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